Et Encore Une Fois
by the-WYSIWYG-type
Summary: There was a sickness that was drifting over Lakewood. One that our Troop members hadn't seen since they were freshmen in high school...After all, they were getting far too old for this far too fast...Hayley X Jake
1. Awareness

Title: …Et Encore Une Fois…

Summary: There was a sickness that was drifting over Lakewood. One that our Troop members hadn't seen since they were freshmen in high school. Seeing as they were in command when this sickness initially began, our favorite members must re-enlist and take down this virus once and for all. After all, they were getting far too old for this, far too fast…Jake X Hayley

Rating: M  
>Genre: Romance, Drama<br>Series: The Troop

Pairing: Hayley X Jake

**Chapter 1**

He could sense her there, standing along the water's edge admiring her reflection before he even saw her silhouette against the inky blackness of the forest.

She turned to approach him, her creamy complexion and perfect features taking on an air of playfulness that he hadn't seen adorn her face in over 9 years. Where had she been all that time; he honestly didn't know and he could tell that she wasn't quite sure of that answer either.

She was before him in an instant, clouding his senses and intoxicating his air with her scent like she use to all those years before. She was toying with him and he was letting her; after all, they'd always loved the temptation of being so close to one another, seeing who would bend first and act on their desires. The last time they had played this game, he had been the first to blink, the first to launch into that unyielding, burning touch that sent them into a tizzy and ultimately pushed her away. Years of separation had made him desperate and he felt himself yielding to her beauty again.

She would always win. That was an absolute.

The kiss was searing. If she was a flame, he would have been engulfed in her uncompromising fire, his insides fried and his lips charcoal on her tongue. He sank into that kiss and realized just how long he had been craving it.

It ended too quickly for him as she pulled away and ran off into the foliage, her laughter floating to his ears.

She was always so elegant in the way that she slipped for his overprotective fingertips.

He chased her of course, losing sight of her for just a second, just long enough to blink, but that was all that was needed. She had disappeared before and she had done it again right under his nose.

He panicked.

This didn't feel right, something didn't feel right. Suddenly he was rushing to find her, to hold her to him, willing to shield her from the danger that he felt was coming. He turned a corner and came face to face with her. Only she wasn't alone anymore.

"Hello, Jake."

* * *

><p>Jake shot up in his sleep, his face covered in a thin layer of sweat as he placed his head in his hands.<p>

He had to stop this bizarre mixed dreaming about Hayley. It had been nearly a decade since they had broken up. Nearly a decade since she had just abruptly disappeared only leaving behind a 2-page long note about how much of her future she had sacrificed for him and the Troop and how she needed to live for herself and how she hoped he would take care of himself and not hold back just because of her.

And he hadn't held back.

He went to art school, drowning himself in oils and pastels and Indian ink in a desperate attempt to turn his heartache into something useful. He'd graduated with top honors and went on to work at an animation studio. Around the time of his 23th birthday he had decided to create the comic book of his dreams, _Nightshield and Honey Ricochet_. It was somewhat of a homage to his star-crossed love for Hayley that he had never really taken the time to slow down and accept.

The first issue was an instant success and had landed him on the map in the super heroic world of comic book heroes. All of the succeeding issues had been just as successful, 2 of which had been turned into full length, live action movies. No one understood just how emotional it made him feel to see his work turned into something that everyone wanted a part of.

_Nightshield and Honey Ricochet_ was as much a part of him as his body was. They depicted a relatively accurate (albeit, over exaggerated) impersonation of his past and that made the acceptance of them in society all the more touching for him.

People loved the fantasy of monster-hunting and saving the world as it slept. And even though he had been criticized repeatedly over the unrealistic ideas that people would actual do something as altruistic as he depicted, Jake still admired his work and enjoyed it.

After all, that had been his life at one point in time. It was just nice to get it out into the open, even though no one—sans those who were involved in the Troop—knew it.

It was only nights like these, where he was absorbed by a sinking loneliness, that he actually let the truths he tried to hide from himself resurface.

He wanted to be loved.

To actually be loved for him, not just his money or his fame, but for _him_.

And the only person that would ever satisfy this need was Hayley Steele. And she had disappeared to some far off place that he would never know of.

He missed her. He yearned for her. He ached so badly for her that it hurt, and yet she was able to dismiss him so easily.

It stung so much that he could barely stand it even with all of the distractions…

And, as of late, he had been getting that terrible instinctual ache in the pit of his stomach that something was happening. Something that should have been dead and buried years ago. He just didn't know what yet…

Jake grabbed his clock, the electronic red of the numbers screaming a disconcerting _5:37 _am. Jake turned, letting his feet hit the plush of his carpet as he got out of bed. There was no point in him trying to go back to sleep just yet.

He entered his bathroom and looked at himself long and hard. His long, angular features were looking a little more rugged this morning than most. He opted to shave.

He hadn't even lathered the shaving cream on his face before his cell began to screech its high-pitched battle cry.

"Who in the hell—"

Jake raced over to his bedside table, flipping his phone open without giving it a second thought.

"I swear to the Lord in heaven, if this is Brian, you're fired."

"No, Jake. It's me." The voice was very familiar in its smooth pronunciation of his name.

Jake still.

"Felix?"

He hadn't spoken to his dear friend in a couple of months thanks to the debut of his first graphic novel depicting the life of his famous heroes before they were heroes. Even so, his friend turned Lakewood Troop Assistant Advisor had to have known what time it was.

"Jake, we have a serious problem."

* * *

><p>Hayley was not particularly happy.<p>

Hell, she hadn't been really happy in nearly a decade, but this was a whole new form of unhappiness.

She looked down upon her desk, picking up one of the less edited analysis essays from one of the many failing essays her students turned in before standing up and taking a spot at the front of the room. She could feel the tension rolling off of her 2 dozen or so attending scholars as she looked up from the angrily graded paper in her hands.

Good. She had their attention.

"Last time I checked, I was supposed to be teaching a class of dedicated graduates."

She noticed how half of her class paled at the calmness of her words.

"I'm also pretty sure that we just spent nearly, I don't know…two weeks or so covering the very basic idea of themes, motifs, and symbols. I thought you all understood the basic identifying factors of each. I assumed you all could handle the simple task of identifying one of each of those said literary devices in the beautifully written word of Emily Bronte's _Wuthering Heights_…"

She looked down at the paper in her hands, the red marks blinding to her eyes. Professor Hayley Steele looked back over the paper, a good majority of her class flinching at her gaze.

This was why she had an 80% truancy rate for a majority of her classes. She held such high expectations from her students, the type of expectations that she expected from herself at that age. A lot of people cracked under that pressure.

But that was also why she had a 98% success rate for those few who could handle her coursework. She didn't accept slackers and she sure as hell didn't give them room to pass. She had even said such on the first day. She could still remember the bright-eyed looks and potential that she had snuffed out…

"_I'm Professor Hayley Steele and I will be your British Literary Analysis and Composition professor." _She had said.

She quickly changed her tune as she set down her briefcase.

"_Enough of the pleasantries. This is not high school; I'm not here to baby you or to help guild you to your degree. If you fail, you won't be able to make it up; I don't offer extra credit and I don't believe in favoritism. Even if I do like you, I'll expect more from you."_

That destroyed over half of the smiles in the room. Now they knew the seriousness of this course.

"_For a good chunk of you, this class stands between you and your Master's in British Literature. Well, here are my statistics. By the end of the week, half of you—which are about one hundred and thirty of you—will still be enrolled in this class. By the end of the semester, only a quarter of that half will still be attending. By the end of the year only about a third of that quarter will pass and walk away with a respectable degree. That's roughly twelve or thirteen of the two hundred and seventy-five of you in here._

"_I am not kind in my judgment and I expect nothing less of perfection. If that bothers you, if that makes you feel the slightest bit uncomfortable or insecure, then don't bother showing up for class."_

She remembered how frightened the group of students had looked after her little opening speech, the same one she gave to every year of incoming graduates. Right now, the remaining of her original students held that same look of terror.

"I'm going to flat out tell you that every last one of these essays has a failing grade or damn near and here is why. A theme is a fundamental, universal idea that is explored throughout a piece of literature. A motif is a recurring literary device, structure, and so forth, that reinforces a theme. A symbol is a character, object, figure, etcetera, that represents abstract concepts and-slash-or ideas. Not a single one of you seemed to understand the difference between the three.

"Unfortunately, we will not waste any more time on a subject that you all obviously do not comprehend. Instead we will be moving forward and into the concepts of the abuse and manipulation of language as well as the danger of naivety within the working class through the dissection of George Orwell's _Animal Farm_. I'm sure that you all will be able to dig deep into your freshmen year of high school and do a little better this time."

Hayley turned her back to her class, picking up a piece of chalk and beginning to scribble down the main characters that the class would be focusing on across the board. She faintly heard the door next to the second row of seats opening behind her and the tale-tell scuffling of a chair as she continued to write across the board.

"I do not forgive tardiness."

A deep laugh sounded behind her as the person answered.

"It appears that three degrees and a doctorate have yet to tarnish the perfect, polished, ever overachieving façade that is Hayley Steele. Nice to see that the real world hasn't sucked the desire for greatness out of you."

Hayley froze at the sound of that voice.

It may have been 9 years and the last time she may have heard that voice was during a very confession filled…_vigorous_ act, but she could never forget it.

She turned and faced the curly headed devil in disguise. His feet were propped up upon one of the many table tops of the isle seating, his chair balancing hazardously under his weight, that silly boyish grin engulfing his angular adult face. Just seeing him sent tingles down her spine and out her toes.

She resisted the urge to delve into that feeling.

"And hello to you, too, Jake."

* * *

><p><strong>Tai's Territorial Tirade:<strong>

This little section will contain all of my little bits and pieces of commentary at the end of each chapter, so enjoy it.

Anyways, this is the first chapter of a new storyline that I have been thinking up for a while. One day I was simply cruising through the Troop fanfiction section and noticed that there weren't any M rated stories. Now, I wasn't looking particularly for smut, just something more adult themed. So, I decided that I might as well try my hand at an M rated, adult fanfiction for The Troop. I mean, if I was wondering where the adult material was, then there had be at least one other person wondering the same thing. Thus, _Et Encore Une Fois_ was born!

Now, it's not the most amazing fanfiction ever, but it's decent. I like to at least imagine that it satisfies ones desire for something more mature and romantic than the K+ material that's in the Troop archives (not that the K+ stuff is bad, it just gets a little redundant after a while).

The storyline isn't the most original (especially when held against the other fanfiction I'm working on uploading for the Troop), but I wanted to add in some other twists that a lot of the Troop fanfiction writers don't really add. One being the idea that maybe Jake and Hayley didn't initially make it as a couple. Another being that they have to put their lives on hold to fix past mistakes. There was a lot that I decided to throw in there, but it won't be particularly revealed until later on.

Also, I just wanted to say the Professor version of Hayley behaved the exact same way that a teacher I had in high school use to behave. She would rant and rave and everyone who failed her class hated her, but she was one of my favorite teachers. She had a ridiculously high standard and held her favorite students above that standard (I was one of those students ). Unfortunately, she got a better job at another school district halfway into my senior year, but it was difficult to not want to use a personification of her in this fanfiction. I could just imagine Hayley being so adamant about the subject she teaches that she kind of has a very "well isn't obvious?" sort of approach to the subject, just like my old British Literature teacher (she actually looked at the class crazy when we couldn't read _The Canterbury Tales_ in its original text. I love her XD). :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I already have the next 4 chapters done and accounted for, so don't be afraid to pressure me if I decide to take forever to update.

Please R&R!


	2. Polarity

Title: …Et Encore Une Fois…

Summary: There was a sickness that was drifting over Lakewood. One that our Troop members hadn't seen since they were freshmen in high school. Seeing as they were in command when this sickness initially began, our favorite members must re-enlist and take down this virus once and for all. After all, they were getting far too old for this, far too fast…Jake X Hayley

Rating: M  
>Genre: Romance, Drama<br>Series: The Troop

Pairing: Hayley X Jake

_**Last Time…**_

"I do not forgive tardiness."

A deep laugh sounded behind her as the person answered.

"It appears that three degrees and a doctorate have yet to tarnish the perfect, polished, ever overachieving façade that is Hayley Steele. Nice to see that the real world hasn't sucked the desire for greatness out of you."

Hayley froze at the sound of that voice.

It may have been 9 years and the last time she may have heard that voice was during a very confession filled…_vigorous_ act, but she could never forget it.

She turned and faced the curly headed devil in disguise. His feet were propped up upon one of the many table tops of the isle seating, his chair balancing hazardously under his weight, that silly boyish grin engulfing his angular adult face. Just seeing him sent tingles down her spine and out her toes.

She resisted the urge to delve into that feeling.

"And hello to you, too, Jake."

**Chapter 2**

Jake really did miss Hayley.

A lot more than he would ever care to admit.

When Felix had given him the chance to fly from his home in Washington (the state) all the way to Connecticut to retrieve her, he was beside himself. Of course he would take the offer! Only a fool would pass it up. But he felt that awkward nervousness bottling up within him as the plane descended in New Haven. Hell, he'd stood outside the door of her classroom for damn near an hour or so, taking the bizarre looks and stares of passing by students and even being questioned by the janitor at one point.

He just couldn't bring himself to walk in.

But after listening to the chewing out that she gave to her students, he just braced himself and opened the door. And when she turned to look at him, the shock apparent in her eyes, yet her lips pressed into a tight line…It took all of him to not be swept away by how beautiful she'd become.

She'd always been beautiful, but the last time he'd seen her she had been 18, he a mere 19, and even though she looked all grown up then, an extra 9 years had really helped.

She had filled out nicely, her face sharpening ever so slightly revealing high cheekbones, her eyes becoming a much more defined shade of hazelnut brown. She was still lithe and relatively tall, but now her body took on a womanly curve to its shape, her red sheath dress only accentuating that point. Her black, conservative blazer did little to hide her well rounded bust and her legs seemed to go on for miles in her simple black pumps.

Jake liked the view from where he was sitting and he sure as hell would endure whatever torment she was willing to dish out just to keep it.

Hayley placed a slender hand upon her hip.

"Why are you—"

Before she could finish however, one of her many male students abruptly stood and wagged a finger towards Jake, his mouth agape.

"I know you!" He quickly caught himself, "I mean, I know who you are! You're Jake Collins! The creator of _Nightshield and Honey Ricochet_! I'm a huge fan!"

The student's declaration sent the class into a dither of swooning college scholars and loyal readers.

Hayley lost her patience.

"Enough!" She ground out, her foot coming down as she said so.

The class stilled.

"_Nightshield and Honey Ricochet_?" She questioned, "You really went through with that particular comic idea?"

"Yeah…" he began unsurely.

Hayley rubbed her eyes tiredly as Jake turned his head to the side in question. The class looked between the 2 silently.

"Jake…oh Jake…" She shook her head.

"Remember the last time we brought that comic up?"

Realization dawned on his face before he visibly paled. She nodded her head at his thick headedness. He may have become extremely handsome, but he still stayed the same in the skull.

"Just, why are you here?"

Jake stood up.

"On personal business. Speaking of which…" He turned and faced the class, "Class dismissed."

A good majority of the students stood to leave, happy to escape the confusing and intimidating space of Professor Steele's classroom. First she talked down to them, then a famous animation and comic book artist came in—apparently an old friend—and now they had to talk about private stuff. What next? A purple elephant on a unicycle? No thanks.

"You have no right!" Hayley began, "Class un-dismissed!"

The class immediately took their seats again, more afraid of Hayley than they were ready to leave.

"Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of my class."

"No, I can't, Hayley." He turned to address the class again, "Class re-dismissed."

"Class re-un-dismissed!" Her students all shared strange looks, "Forget the grammar! Just sit down!"

"Hayley just let them leave. They want to go."

"Get on with it Jake."

"You don't want to do this."

Hayley placed her hands on her hips, ready for him to get on with whatever he had to do. Jake sighed; she was going to get upset with him for bringing it up in front of her students…

"Okay," He conceded, "Just don't say I didn't warn you. Felix thinks Gus is back."

It took her a moment to register what he had just uttered. Gus was…Her eyes turned the size of dinner plates. Jake took this as a sign to continue.

"And he thinks that—"

"Stop!" Hayley shouted, hands poised in the air.

She didn't intentionally mean to shriek at him, but she just couldn't contain the mixed emotions she was feeling at the moment. And she sure as hell couldn't have this discussion with so many prying, eager eyes within the immediate vicinity.

After a moment, she looked up, her eyes scanning the classroom. It was dead silent.

"Class re-re-dismissed...**Leave**."

The students took the go ahead, some lingering behind longer than others hoping to hear a little bit more, but giving up when they realized they wouldn't. Jake closed and locked the door behind the last student.

Hayley was hot on his heels, her face red and her hand itching to hit him. He'd seen this look plenty of times in the past.

"Hayley, I tried—"

"I'm not angry about that!" She began, "I'm angry that you have the nerve to walk in here, belittle me in front of my graduate students, and then have the audacity to tell me something as ludicrous and unrealistic as Gus mysteriously returning from a dimension that would have swallowed him up whole and shit out the bones!"

Hayley was breathing hard, her nose flaring in a very cute, yet frightening manner.

"You can't just come in here unjustified, humiliate me, and expect me to be okay with it!"

Jake felt himself stagger slightly. Unjustified? What was that suppose to mean? That he had to have a reason to want to see her? That he had to have a reason to want to share the same space as her? To delve in her radiance and her charisma and the electricity that was just her? That actually really stung…

But the hair that broke the camel's back was her accusation of him humiliating her. He should have been the one to be spitting fire. After all, she had led him to believe that she actually loved him only to just leave him so abruptly.

Suddenly, he felt himself seething.

He wanted her to hurt. He wanted her to feel the torment and torture that he had to live with. He wanted her to feel the same heartache and uncertainty that he had felt in her just disappearing without explanation. He wanted her to understand and lift some of the damage from off of him.

"Unjustified?" He heard himself saying, "What's unjustified is that you were the one who just up and disappeared! With absolutely no excuse! Just a half assed, 'Sorry I broke your heart, but have a good life anyway,' note!"

He saw her calming down and felt the need to follow suit somehow.

"Jake," she began.

She made to reach her hand out and touch him, but stopped herself.

"That's not what I meant and you know that. What I meant was how can you be so sure that Gus is back? Do you have any proof?"

Jake felt himself mellow back to his original state enough to answer.

"Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue if Gus is truly back or not. The whole idea seems crazy to me, but Felix is absolutely sure and we both know that he is the last person to ever jump to such a serious conclusion."

Hayley seemed to linger on this as she turned tail and walked back towards her desk, elegantly taking a seat in her chair. Jake's eyes studied her; she was always so elegant, so breathtaking that he felt himself yearning for her again. But those desires would have to wait. Emotions only ever caused grief for them.

"Okay," she began.

"Assuming that without probable cause Gus is indeed back, why should it matter to us? Why would it become our problem? We're decommissioned, we're thirteen years older, and Gus has no way of tracking us down or any reason to. Why does it matter to us in particular?"

Jake leaned against one of the many tables that Hayley's students usually occupied as he began to go over everything that Felix had told him a few days prior.

"Apparently, you're right. We have no reason to get involved with a case that we've obviously outgrown, but there is a statute of limitations of sorts within the Troop code; one that is rarely ever needed. Based on that code, if an assignment comes back into activation ten years or less of the Troop that had jurisdiction over it went into retirement, then the aforementioned troop must be reassigned to said mission until all basic protocols involving the completion of a case are followed. In other words, this was our fight to begin with so we've got to end it."

Hayley watched Jake steadily as he explained their need to become involved in something that shouldn't have been their problem to begin with.

"That may be true, but what potential threat could he possibly pose. He's almost thirty, just like the rest of us and I highly doubt that he still holds a vendetta against all the people who treated him badly."

Hayley scoffed at the idea that someone could be that bitter over some hormonal and immature teasing. Not that she ever understood the pressures of such a lifestyle.

"Do you know what will be happening in two weeks?" Jake asked nonchalantly.

Hayley turned her head slightly at the bizarre question.

"…My birthday? I don't know. What?"

"In two weeks, it will be our ten year reunion. It will be the one day for the next ten years where everyone who was attending Lakewood High that was in our graduating class will be congregated together just like when we were attending school. Now, even if Gus isn't up to anything right now, which Felix feels is highly unlikely, there is a good possibility that he would strike during that reunion."

Hayley paled at the implications. Gus would have every person who ever did him wrong all together in one place at the same time to exact his revenge…If he was really back.

She let out a long stretch of air before turning back to Jake.

"Why are you here Jake? I mean, I understand the need to explain this all to me, but Felix could have simply called. What's your purpose here?"

Jake let that tell-tale boyish grin appear on his face as his smooth baritone voice fluttered against Hayley's eardrums.

"I'm here to bring back the last member of the Lakewood Troop."

* * *

><p><strong>Tai's Territorial Tirade:<strong>

Okay, now the plot comes to light, thus bringing in the meaning of my title _Et Encore Une Fois_, which is French for "and once more." Obviously you can see the connection; it appears that Gus is back once again and they have to defeat him, yada, yada, yada.

This chapter is going to show the most information in terms of the core plot for a couple of chapters. The next few chapters I have written up focus mainly on this push/pull relationship between Hayley and Jake and their desire for one another. So, don't expect Gus' name to pop back up for a few chapters (at least 3). He won't even appear until the story is half finished and even when he does, I don't plan on giving him too much air time.

Aside from that little tidbit, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for chapter 3 of _Et Encore Une Fois_.

Please R&R!


	3. Temptation

Title: …Et Encore Une Fois…

Summary: There was a sickness that was drifting over Lakewood. One that our Troop members hadn't seen since they were freshmen in high school. Seeing as they were in command when this sickness initially began, our favorite members must re-enlist and take down this virus once and for all. After all, they were getting far too old for this, far too fast…Jake X Hayley

Rating: M  
>Genre: Romance, Drama<br>Series: The Troop

Pairing: Hayley X Jake

_**Last Time…**_

"In two weeks, it will be our ten year reunion. It will be the one day for the next ten years where everyone who was attending Lakewood High that was in our graduating class will be congregated together just like when we were attending school. Now, even if Gus isn't up to anything right now, which Felix feels is highly unlikely, there is a good possibility that he would strike during that reunion."

Hayley paled at the implications. Gus would have every person who ever did him wrong all together in one place at the same time to exact his revenge…If he was really back.

She let out a long stretch of air before turning back to Jake.

"Why are you here Jake? I mean, I understand the need to explain this all to me, but Felix could have simply called. What's your purpose here?"

Jake let that tell-tale boyish grin appear on his face as his smooth baritone voice fluttered against Hayley's eardrums.

"I'm here to bring back the last member of the Lakewood Troop."

**Chapter 3**

Surely there was something deathly wrong with Hayley Steele.

Not only did she let herself be coerced by the ever attractive, ever Sex God-like creature that Jake Collins had become, but she had offered him one of her guest rooms until they were meant to leave in a week or so. And to top it all off, she sat ideally by as he questioned her not-so-recent engagement to the Dean of the University that she taught at.

Honestly, her romantic life was no longer his jurisdiction and he didn't deserve to have a say over anyone—or anything—that made her womanly bits happy. After all, he hadn't voyaged those seas in damn near a decade and, by God, if she let him sit there and question whatever happiness she had (even if she wasn't as happy as she had been back when she was still with Jake. Not that she'd ever admit that).

This brought them to their current situation of a stare down that they were having while pretending to have breakfast with her soon-to-be husband, Dean Francis Thomas Yarborough.

Surely there was something wrong with her…

"So, Frank," Jake began, taking a large swig of coffee from an ocean colored coffee mug, "How long have you known Hayley?"

"Oh, since high school. I remember that I had eaten a whole bucket of sand to get her to notice me."

Jake gave Hayley a look that she hadn't seen since the Oculypse escaped their capture and went on a rampage all those years before. Suddenly, Hayley's omelet seemed so very interesting with all the little bits and pieces of broken up peppercorns in it.

"I wasn't sure if it had worked or not until she had applied for the teaching position at Yale—at which time I was only an assistant administrator—and she brought it back up. We've been pretty happy since, isn't that right, honey?"

"Oh yeah," Hayley struggled to say, rolling a lone piece of sausage along her plate, "Absolute bliss."

Jake nodded his head blindly at her poor, naïve fiancé, "How exciting. So, Hayley, I'm sure Frank here knows all about your adventures in Mime Club, huh?"

Hayley's head shot up at the mention of "Mime Club" and the way that Jake's voice slightly raised at the end of the sentence. Surely he wouldn't…

"You never told me you were in Mime Club." Her fiancé said, turning his full attention to Hayley before turning back towards Jake.

"Oh yeah," Jake began, "I remember this one time, we were pantomiming being attacked by a giant killer moth. Well, Hayley here got so into it that she climbed into the vents and nearly killed herself trying to get away from the pretend bug!"

Jake let out a heartwarming laugh as Hayley looked off to the side, her face turning a lovely rendition of a tomato covered in blonde curls.

"Not one of my prouder moments…" she choked out before abruptly standing up.

"Well, honey, you better get going. Don't want the Dean to be late, do we?"

Frank barely had enough time to grab his briefcase before being shoved out the door and locked out. He simply shrugged before making his way down the steps and to his car to drive off to work.

Hayley turned on Jake, completely fuming.

"That was uncalled for!" She ground out at the still snickering 29-year-old.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

Jake wiped away a few stray tears that had begun to leak out during his amusement.

"So sue me if I want to open your fiancé's eyes to a more realistic you."

Hayley turned her head at this. A more realistic her? Surely she was real enough for him.

"I don't understand, Jake…" She trailed off, taking a seat back at her chair before shoveling a piece of omelet into her mouth.

Jake straightened at her confusion, taking a bite out of his toast.

"It's pretty simple, really." He began, gulping down the last little bit of his now cold coffee, "The man idolizes you."

"You mean he loves me." She scuffed.

"Sure he loves you, you can see that in the way he looks at you, but he loves the perfection in you. He doesn't know jack about you as a human being, but he knows all about your achievements and your ambitions and the things that make you perfect in the eyes of the people."

Hayley slowed her chewing, her eyes locked onto Jake's.

"Sometimes, you have to love someone beyond common perceptions. You have to love everything about them; their weaknesses as well as their strengths. But you never let him see them; you don't trust that he'll still love you if you let him see beyond your perfect hair and your perfect clothes and your perfect make-up..."

He was giving her that look, the same one that she had seen when he had "pretended" to confess his love for her back during the Eris Fairy's rampage. The one that melted her heart and turned her focus into a type of tunnel vision that only saw Jake, the man she still loved more than any other man (including her fiancé).

She hated him. Hated the way that he always saw through her and into her soul, like some sort of psychic. Hated how he always saw her at her worst as well as at her best. Hated how he could just sit there and analyze her so well and see ever single insecurity and flaw within her, yet still find the power to love every inch of her being.

She should be marrying him, not Frank. She should have married him all those years ago. She should have just said yes instead of getting up in the middle of the night, writing a letter through all her tears, and running away.

Suddenly she was speaking before she thought about it.

"I was afraid, you know." Hayley began.

She knew that Jake knew what she was referring to. She looked down at her half eaten omelet before pushing it away; she wasn't hungry anymore.

"Terrified actually. I was afraid that you wouldn't look at me the same way in the morning. I just…"

Hayley stood abruptly, her mouth in a thin line as she excused herself.

"I need to head off to work. I want to get some planning out of the way for my grad students' next assignment."

She was out the door and in her car long before Jake's body even thought to move.

* * *

><p>Jake stood there at the sink in her kitchen in her home trying to hold back the need to vomit or pass out or something dramatic like that.<p>

It was surreal being there in her home as a guest or otherwise. He just couldn't wrap his head around it, around the idea that this wasn't _their_ home, but _her and his _home.

It made him feel slightly dizzy when he thought about how wrong his love life had gone. Especially when he could see the train wreck of a relationship that Hayley and her fiancé were headed towards.

She knew she should have married Jake a long time ago.

He knew. And she knew that he knew. And he knew that she knew that he knew.

It was a very vicious, albeit necessary, cycle. If it didn't show her anything else, he would make sure that she realized how badly she needed him. Not that damn Francis Yarborough.

But she was making it difficult for him, particularly after the slight breakthrough in their turbulent relationship 3 days prior.

After she had stormed off, he had just sat at the table wondering what she had been about to say. It wasn't like he could simply speculate since he hadn't a clue that she had felt anything towards their previous relationship to begin with. However, she had spent the past few days avoiding him, tip-toeing around the main issue, trying not to get stuck in that uncomfortable place between Jake and her thoughts.

So far it was working pretty well, but Jake was getting relatively fed up and he was going to get down to the main problem whether Hayley liked it or not.

After all, he loved her too much to let her avoid him all over again.

So, after making sure that her damned Dean of a fiancé was busy at work, he cornered her with a bottle of wine and a false sense of security.

"_After all,_" he had told her, "_I just want you to know that I'm fine with whatever you do. Even if it isn't with me._"

She had been charmed by his words and his wolfish grin.

That was a mistake that they were both going to regret later on…

The alcohol had been extremely decadent. The talking had been comfortable and sincere. So, when exactly had the slight joking turned into suggestive banter? When had the small glances turned into heated stares? When had the kissing frenzy begun? What about the heavy petting? The drunken stumbling into the bedroom she shared with her husband-to-be?

Suddenly they were far too drunk and a little too eager.

Their clothes were too thick and their thoughts too heavy.

Jake had wanted this—God, did he want this—but when he saw Hayley under him ready to be ravished, he stopped.

He couldn't let her do this to herself.

After all, this was always-rational-never-impulsive Hayley. The same Hayley who was getting married to the man of her proverbial dreams in a month or so. The same Hayley who would hate herself if she ever found out that she had cheated in a state of drunkenness.

So, Jake gritted his teeth and kissed her like he was dying. He took a quick look at her before grabbing his clothes and leaving the room. She would be asleep soon from the wine, soon enough where she wouldn't get out of the bed to investigate his sudden change in mood.

Jake walked into the kitchen and gripped the sink until his knuckles turned white.

He stood there for a while just thinking.

Why had he hesitated? Why didn't he just take? Just take and take until the beast within him was satisfied? Sure, Hayley was drunk, but she had been feeling the electricity as well, he was sure of it. But he wanted to do it right. He wanted her to have the choice, to make the decision herself of whether or not she wanted to deal with the consequences of her actions. He couldn't rob her of that right.

Jake looked over his shoulder as the front door creaked open. He couldn't see that damnable Frank enter the house and make his way through the living room to past the kitchen door, but it made him feel better to just imagine that he could.

The sandy haired man stopped dead in the doorway and looked straight at Jake before cocking his head to the side.

"You okay, Jake?" he asked, "You look a little pale…"

Jake waved off the question before turning back to the sink.

"Hayley's asleep. She had a little too much wine." Jake croaked out.

"I'm going to pack my things and head to the hotel that I'm supposed to be staying at. I'll come and get Hayley on Saturday so that we can head back to Lakewood for the reunion."

"Okay." Frank nodded at Jake's back, "I'm sorry I won't be able to make it."

Jake shrugged, "You're two years older than us and you're the Dean of a University. You can't just leave at the drop of a hat without causing some kind of ruckus."

"…I guess you're right."

Frank made to finish his trek across the house to Hayley's room before a thought crossed Jake's mind.

"Hey, Frank."

The said man stopped in his tracks and looked back into the kitchen to stare at the imposing back of Jake Collins.

"Surely, you've seen Hayley naked because, after all, the two you are engaged, so you've most likely seen the three scars across her back."

Frank turned his head in confusion at this statement.

"How would you—"

"Do you know how she got those scars?"

"…No. She won't tell me…"

Jake closed his eyes and thought back to their freshmen year of high school and the battle they had with the Zylork. Or more correctly, the battle _he_ had with the Zylork and a brainwashed Hayley and Felix. Mr. Stockley was able to heal them, but Hayley's body wouldn't fully accept the antidote, leaving just enough of the Zylork's poison within her to keep the scratches from completely healing.

Suddenly his mind was brought back to the first time they had ever physically consummated their relationship.

They were both still virgins and insecure with their bodies, but Hayley had been even more so because of the scars. She had tried to hide her back from him, moving in ways that shielded his eyes from the blemishes and even refusing to let him lie behind her afterwards. Eventually she had confessed that the scars made her insecure and that she didn't want him to see the ugly marks.

Jake had simply kissed them each in turn before confessing that he loved her battle scars. After all, they were what made her so unique in his eyes.

"When you get up the courage to ask her about them again, just ask her what a Zylork is."

"…Zy...lork?" her fiancé questioned, unsure if he had heard right.

"Yes, Zylork. Either she will tell you the truth or she will ask you how you know about it and how much you know about it. I'll bet the latter."

Jake let go of the sink before brushing past her stunned fiancé. If he and Hayley were meant to be together, then this little seed of doubt he had planted wouldn't have room to blossom and he would let them live in peace, thoroughly defeated. Hell, he'd even sit through the wedding knowing it would be the end of him. But if her fiancé wasn't willing to accept her, knowing that another man knew more about her than he, then he would come in and swoop up the remaining pieces of Hayley's heart for himself.

Jake may be cruel, but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

* * *

><p><strong>Tai's Territorial Tirade:<strong>

Of snap! Double update! I felt like you deserve a double update considering how short the last chapter was. :)

[_Cue the dramatic music_] And thus the plot thickens!

This chapter played a lot off of the episode _Speed_. I mainly played off the idea of Jake trying to steal Hayley away, but realizing her situation and deciding to make a judgment call that would play off of her best interests. The weird thing is that during the little Zylork spiel, I could actually visually see Jake rubbing the fact that he knows more about Hayley than her own fiancé in her fiancé's face. There are very few scenes where I can actually visually see what going on in my mind's eye and this was one of those scenes without a doubt.

So far, I'm about 6 or so chapters in and this scene was in my top 3 favorite scenes to write to date. I'll tell you about my top 2 as they show up.

I also liked the idea of Hayley having the scars from that particular monster (don't ask me why) and I decided that I really wanted to include that to show just how close she is to Jake as compared to the man that she's going to marry. They (Jake and Hayley) share a deeper connection then they would ever share with any other person and it kind of leaves this question hanging in the air as to why did they break up when they were so obviously meant for one another.

Just another twist I decided to add that will pop up constantly throughout the story.

And, I set this chapter up so that once the plot of this story is over, I could still leave it open to create a sequel based entirely on this love triangle relationship between Frank, Hayley, and Jake. Smart, huh?

Anyways, R&R!


	4. Transgression

Title: …Et Encore Une Fois…

Summary: There was a sickness that was drifting over Lakewood. One that our Troop members hadn't seen since they were freshmen in high school. Seeing as they were in command when this sickness initially began, our favorite members must re-enlist and take down this virus once and for all. After all, they were getting far too old for this, far too fast…Jake X Hayley

Rating: M  
>Genre: Romance, Drama<br>Series: The Troop

Pairing: Hayley X Jake

_**Last Time…**_

"When you get up the courage to ask her about them again, just ask her what a Zylork is."

"…Zylork?" her fiancé questioned, unsure if he had heard right.

"Yes, Zylork. Either she will tell you the truth or she will ask you how you know about it and how much you know about it. I'll bet the latter."

Jake let go of the sink before brushing past her stunned fiancé. If he and Hayley were meant to be together, then this little seed of doubt he had planted wouldn't have room to blossom and he would let them live in peace, thoroughly defeated. Hell, he'd even sit through the wedding knowing it would be the end of him. But if her fiancé wasn't willing to accept her, knowing that another man knew more about her than he, then he would come in and swoop up the remaining pieces of Hayley's heart for himself.

Jake may be cruel, but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

**Chapter 4**

Hayley tapped her foot in the passenger seat of Frank's Chevy Impala anxiously. She peeked behind her seat to look at the top of Jake's head as he doodled away in a small sketchpad. Hayley turned back to look out the front windshield as her fiancé placed his hand upon her leg for a quick moment to calm her down.

It didn't work.

It only made her antsier as she continued to vigorously tap her foot to an unusual rhythm.

She took another peek at Jake only to find him looking back at her questioningly.

How could he be so calm about this?

They were about to get on a plane and head back to their hometown and into the proverbial Pandora's Box of all their past mistakes and emotions and regrets and the damn fool was sitting in the backseat doodling! Who knows what would happen while they were away from all sense of rationality and the real world.

She had almost slipped once just 3 or so days ago and silently thanked God that Jake still had the decency to stop himself from delving into that tantalizingly delicious sin of adultery (well, almost adultery). But if she flew out halfway across the country, away from her job and her fiancé and all rational thought…well, she wasn't sure what would happen, but she was sure that it would raise some form of doubt within her mind over what had become of her life.

She didn't need any doubt, especially when she was about to make one of the most important choices of her life.

Before she knew it, her door was being opened by Frank and she could see the tall glass walls of the airport looming over her. Hayley shuttered slightly.

"You okay there, Hayley?" Jake asked, noticing the way she went pale as she stepped out of the car.

"Yeah," she lied, "Just a little bit anxious."

* * *

><p>Her nerves were fried, Jake could tell so immediately.<p>

She had been nervous all through breakfast resulting in her spilling her coffee twice. She had been nervous in the car on the way to the airport causing her tap her right foot in a type of cancan fashion. She had been nervous checking in her bags, going through the security checkpoint and waiting for their seats to be called making her all twitchy and restless.

It was starting to grate on his nerves.

Jake sat next to her, busy at work on sketches of one of his favorite on-again-off-again characters, Professor Brandt. He was sort of his rendition of Felix and Mr. Stockley within his comic book, showing up to fill in on the latest missions or to update the weaponry that his main characters used. He was useful and intelligent like Felix, but out of the way and continually deceiving like Mr. Stockley.

Jake stopped as he noticed an odd set of vibrations making his sketching sloppy. He looked to his left to see Hayley back in her cancan mode.

This was getting out of hand.

"Hayley, stop!" Jake said, placing his hand abruptly upon her thigh.

This immediately made her stop her menstruations.

"I don't know why you're nervous, but stop. You'll be fine, I'll be fine, and Frank will be fine. Everyone is going to be fine, just stop worrying about whatever you're worrying about and relax."

Hayley nodded her head numbly at his statement as she looked up towards their gate, her legs ceasing in their actions. Jake took this as a good sign as he began to put his things away; they would be boarding soon.

* * *

><p>Hayley shook herself awake as she felt the turbulence of their impending landing.<p>

Her side felt bizarrely warm even though the cabin of the plane couldn't have been warmer than 60 degrees or so. She looked up into the still slumbering face of Jake before pushing herself up. She must have slid against his shoulder as she slept, even though the flight wasn't particularly long (about 4 and a half hours, give or take).

Hayley glanced to her right as she saw the overhead view of Lakewood even though it was still a good distance from the airport. Suddenly her stomach churned and she felt like she might vomit. She bolted, heading into the bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach.

She hadn't expected that she would have this kind of reaction at seeing her childhood town, but she figured that it was just her body's way of relieving all the pent up tension that she had been feeling for the past week plus the added jet lag and air pressure changes of flying.

Hayley looked at herself in the mirror, wiping away the last bits of sickness from the corners of her lips and popping a mint or two from her pocket into her mouth before she heard someone knocking on the door. She ignored them and went back to looking at herself in the mirror. Was it just her or did she look a little more tired than she ought to?

The stranger resumed their knocking, but this time it was followed by a distinct voice.

"Hayley?" Jake's voice trailed in through the thin aluminum door.

"Are you okay in there?"

Hayley didn't answer. She simply continued to stare hard at her reflection in the slightly dirty, airplane lavatory mirror. After a few seconds, the doorknob twisted, testing to see if the door was unlocked. It was; Hayley had been in such a hurry to vomit that she had barely the time to shut the door behind her. Jake peeked his head in slowly before daring to attempt to fit his 6-foot-5 frame within the tiny bathroom.

"Hayley?" he asked again, his voice laced with a type of loving concern.

Hayley would have found it nice if she didn't feel so much like she was losing her mind whenever she was around him.

She felt him approach her from behind, the door sliding gently shut after him. He was so close to her in this claustrophobically cubicle-like space…She could feel the heat rolling off of his chest, smell the aftershave that still stained his oh, so angular face.

She glanced up at him in the mirror before quickly regretting it; he was even closer than she had thought, his face slightly tilted towards the crook of her neck. His lips were so near to her jugular that she was sure that if she breathed just a little harder, took in an extra breath, that he would be kissing the sensitive vein.

"Jake, what're you doing?" she questioned nervously, slightly afraid of his answer.

He didn't say anything in response to her inquiry, but placed his lips upon her delicate collarbone. Hayley's eyes closed involuntarily as she turned her head just slightly to give him better access to her over receptive flesh. Her hands gripped the sink tighter, Jake's hands taking hold of her wrists to keep her steady against his chest. His lips seared her throat, his hands burned her skin; she was suffocating under his fire as he trailed his fingertips so tantalizingly slow and feather-light up her thinly clothed arms, across the plains of her breasts, and down her slightly ticklish sides. He stopped his menstruations once he reached the hem of her skirt, his rough hands brushing against the milky, smooth skin of her inner thigh.

Hayley moaned at the raw contact that promised so many wicked, evil things.

She wanted more. More contact. More caresses. More heavy advances. What he was giving her would never do, would never sate the beast that he had reawakened in the short 10 day span of time that had elapsed. He couldn't just give her a nibble of that sweet forbidden fruit and expect her to be satisfied. No, she would never be fully satisfied now. Not until he had taken her to within an inch of her strength. Not until he had sufficiently broken what little self control she had left.

Hayley moaned a deep, breathy moan as Jake delved deeper into the confines of her thighs, his hands brushing against her waiting and soaking treasure. He gripped her waist to keep her from wiggling too much while he took his time torturing her.

"One thing at a time." He rasped out, his voice a husky, silken baritone curtain against her ears.

All Hayley could do was nod numbly as Jake pushed aside the silky fabric of her underwear before plunging 2 eager fingers into her center, her inner muscles working double time to clamp against the welcomed intruder. Hayley bit her lip as she tried to keep from letting out the growl of approval that rested against her lips.

Jake's warm breath tickled the nape of her neck as he whispered huskily against the shell of her ear, "Let yourself go, Hayley."

Hayley couldn't stand the insanity that he was making her feel. She needed to share this feeling with him, make him beg for her the way her body begged for him. She had to make him understand her position.

She leaned forward, her hands still gripping the sink for dear life as Jake pumped in and out, in and out, his rhythm never ceasing to let her breathe and compose herself. She was slowly turning into a mewling, moaning tangle of desire and need. God, she wanted him in her **now**. His digits searched for that special spot, probing and pressing until Hayley abruptly arched against the sink, feeling as though she was about to go over a cliff that she hadn't been anywhere near in years. With one more push, Hayley felt herself falling over the precipice; her body shook as she came in Jake's blazing hot hand, and her voice let out a throaty roar that was thankfully drowned out by the P.A. that sounded overhead.

"Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking. We will begin our descent in about ten minutes. Please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts as the attendants direct you further. Thank you and I hope you enjoyed your flight on American Airlines."

Jake smirked at the captain's inadvertently lewd statement as he gazed at a blushing Hayley through the bathroom mirror.

"I know I did."

* * *

><p><strong>Tai's Territorial Tirade<strong>:

And the smut makes its grand entrance!

Quick tidbit about this chapter; I initially had it written where I was going to have Jake and Hayley having sex in the bathroom, but there was a moment of mouth-to-mouth collision that I had written that I didn't like. There's just something about kissing someone who's just thrown up that disgusts me. EW. But I didn't want to scrap the idea of them getting it on in an airplane bathroom, so I was in a dilemma.

Well, I had spent all of the night thinking of how I could revise the scene where I would be happy with it. So, I'm sitting on the couch, tired out of my mind, when I pick up my iTouch and start typing scenes out in my notepad. I started writing this scene and fell in love with it; I got to keep my airplane rendezvous and I actually really liked how they went about it.

The Airplane scene is my #2 favorite scene, thus far.

Again, I could visualize it so perfectly. In my mind it was raunchy, it was heated, it was feral, which are all the things I love in a good, passionate sex scene (even though they didn't have sex). I don't think anyone else really liked this scene, but I enjoyed writing it and revising it and I'm so glad I didn't throw out the idea like I had initially intended to.

I also found that I really like ending chapters with Jake smirking and saying something smartass to Hayley. Don't ask me why, I just do for whatever reason. It probably won't that way again because I mentioned it, but there it is.

And a quick side note about the chapter updates. I like to make sure that I have a sufficient chapter cushion barrier of about 5 chapters, meaning I like being at least 5 chapters ahead of my updates, that way you guys are always guarenteed an update even if I slack off. During the last update I was on chapter 8. As of today, I am working on chapter 10. So if I get it done sometime today, that means another double update! YAY!

Anyway, please R&R! Like always.


	5. Restoration

Title: …Et Encore Une Fois…

Summary: There was a sickness that was drifting over Lakewood. One that our Troop members hadn't seen since they were freshmen in high school. Seeing as they were in command when this sickness initially began, our favorite members must re-enlist and take down this virus once and for all. After all, they were getting far too old for this, far too fast…Jake X Hayley

Rating: M  
>Genre: Romance, Drama<br>Series: The Troop

Pairing: Hayley X Jake

_**Last Time…**_

She leaned forward, her hands still gripping the sink for dear life as Jake pumped in and out, in and out, his rhythm never ceasing to let her breathe and compose herself. She was slowly turning into a mewling, moaning tangle of desire and need. God, she wanted him in her **now**. His digits searched for that special spot, probing and pressing until Hayley abruptly arched against the sink, feeling as though she was about to go over a cliff that she hadn't been anywhere near in years. With one more push, Hayley felt herself falling over the precipice; her body shook as she came in Jake's blazing hot hand, and her voice let out a throaty roar that was thankfully drowned out by the P.A. that sounded overhead.

"Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking. We will begin our decent in about ten minutes. Please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts as the attendants direct you further. Thank you and I hope you enjoyed your flight on American Airlines."

Jake smirked at the captain's inadvertently lewd statement as he gazed at a blushing Hayley through the bathroom mirror.

"I know I did."

**Chapter 5**

Jake should have felt bad.

Hell, he should have felt like the lowest scum on the planet.

Earlier that afternoon he had groped and finger-banged the woman he loved in an airplane bathroom. Not only that, but she was engaged to some naïve twit that he couldn't stand. And to top it all off, he hadn't ask her if it was okay or not, he had simply taken from her what he shouldn't have taken; he'd taken her virtue because, when it boiled down to it, him coping an orgasm out a woman with a prior engagement was to some extent cheating.

So why did he feel so damn smug?

Maybe it was her responsiveness or the idea that all of the passengers could have heard their little "mile high club" escapade. He wasn't sure, but instead of feeling ashamed with himself, he felt bizarrely turned on. There was just something so kinky about doing something so taboo with someone that was so deep in denial that she simply dismissed the act without a second thought.

Maybe he should feel extra ashamed since Hayley wasn't acting particularly twitchy since the incident.

Jake grabbed her bag off the conveyer, Hayley moving to retrieve it herself. Their fingers brushed for only an instant causing Hayley to immediately pull her hand away like he had burned her only to catch herself. Jake cocked a knowing eyebrow at her.

Or maybe she was twitchier than he had noticed…

"Don't give me that look!" she snapped, turning heel and stalking out to the pick-ups section of the airport.

Jake followed closely behind her, his bags in tow as he stroked her fury.

"What look?" he questioned.

"That 'would you look at that' look!" she yelled back at him, turning back around to face him unexpectedly.

Jake stepped back slightly, straining his neck to look down at her, his face confused.

"I didn't…I wasn't…There's a look for that?"

Hayley huffed as a voice sounded behind her.

"My, my, my. If it isn't Hayley Steele and Jake Collins lost in another fight."

The fighting couple turned, looking past Hayley's shoulders to glance at the twinkling face of a familiar friend.

"Felix!" Hayley chortled, making a mad dash towards the Latino.

Jake offered his old friend a hand shake before the eager, slightly shorter man crushed him into a hug.

"I missed you too, Felix." Jake said, surprised that Felix still had such a strong grip.

Felix Garcia had always been pretty good looking under the nerd attire, but it really showed in how he had filled out. He was about 6-foot-2, give or take an inch, and his trademark wire rimmed glasses were missing, obviously replaced with contacts. He still looked pretty much the same, except taller, leaner, and with a more laid-back cool type of energy about him. Even his clothes still looked very Felix-y for his age, from the navy blue matching, tailored pants and opened suit jacket to the burgundy, Asian inspired graphic design shirt he wore underneath right on down to his black loafers and yellow socks. His entire being screamed a more mature, sultry, doctorate holding Felix Garcia.

Jake had missed his best friend while up in the gloomy state of Washington.

"I'm sorry I couldn't call you guys down here for a more pleasant visit, but I think we all expected to hear this kind of news eventually." Felix told them as he helped Jake load up their luggage into the trunk of his 1969 Chevy Camaro SS RS.

"I don't think any of us were expecting to hear that he was still alive." Hayley whispered cryptically, crawling into the back seat of the muscle car.

"I'm going to have to agree with Hayley," Jake said, buckling his seat belt and adjusting the seat to his height as Felix pulled away from the airport, "It just seems so…impossible. How are you so sure that Gus is really back?"

Felix gave them a sidelong glance as he quickly paid the toll to exit the airport before answering them.

"Within the last few weeks there have been a strange series of odd fainting spells and deaths happening to people from Lakewood."

Jake gave his friend a confused look.

"Not to sound callous or anything," Jake began, "But what does that have to do with Gus?"

"They're all connected." Felix uttered.

"Each one of the people that suffered from severe fatigue, that fainted, or that died were all connected to Gus in some way. These weren't random acts, but they also weren't vicious. They were quick and stealthy actions planned out for each of these people. Some of them weren't even in Lakewood anymore when they died or got sick."

Hayley looked blankly in the rear view mirror towards Jake and Felix.

"But what makes you so sure that this is Gus' doing?" Jake stately slowly.

"Because it's calculated, it's all interconnected, and the symptoms of each one of these victims are similar to a specific type of monster that normally isn't located in our dimension."

"And what monster would that be?" Hayley asked abruptly, slightly shocking Felix with her sudden outburst.

"I believe that it's a type of essence eating monster, much like the Gelatinous Cube or European Changeling. I've hypothesized that the only way that he was able to survive in the monster dimension was because he was the food source of an essence eating monster and that he somehow was able to convince this being to help him find a way back into this realm. Of course, this is all speculation…"

Hayley and Jake nodded numbly at this comment as Felix passed the Lakewood city limits sign.

"I don't think that whatever is going on is the main plan, though." Felix continued, "I think that he's planning something much bigger. Something that couldn't be accomplished with an endless string of suspicious looking deaths and hospitalizations. I think that whatever is going on is just the tip of the iceberg of what's to happen."

"And that's why you wanted us down here…" Jake muttered.

"Not just to help me get to the bottom of this and stop whatever is going to happen, but to also make sure that you guys attend the reunion. I can't go and enjoy myself if my two best friends aren't there."

Jake and Hayley looked softly at Felix before letting their slight happiness fade.

"But you don't know if it really is Gus. We can't just go off of a bunch of strings of coincidental, barely-there connections." Hayley stated abruptly once again, "We need solid evidence Felix, not just assumptions."

Felix gave a quick look to Jake before facing the road again. The look in his eyes for that split moment spoke volumes.

"Jake," Felix said, "Do you remember how you use to disobey orders during missions because you just had this gut feeling that something wasn't right?"

Jake nodded his head.

"Yeah, I do, Felix."

"I know I don't have any evidence, but I have this terrible aching feeling in the pit of my stomach that something isn't right. Maybe I'm being biased, but at least I'm doing something instead of sitting around waiting for the worst to happen."

Jake looked at his friend's profile, his mind clicking into a bizarre realization.

Felix was frightened out of his mind. For once he couldn't rely on his science and technology to detect the problem and help him sort it out. This whole thing had started as nothing more than a nagging sensation in the back of his mind that had quickly escalated into an instinctual warning bell in his ears and he knew something, with a doubt, was happening and it frightened him that all of his intelligence couldn't put a definitive answer to his gut feeling.

Jake put a reassuring hand on Felix's shoulder.

"I'm behind you man. All the way."

Hayley looked between the 2 men before leaning forward, clutching their headrests for dear life. Obviously she hadn't a clue to what had just transpired between them.

"Okay, apparently I'm going to have to be the voice of reason in this conversation." She turned to face Felix, "We're decommissioned Felix. Well, maybe not you since you're the new Lakewood Troop advisor, but Jake and I are past our prime. We can't just stop our lives and fight another monster. We'll freeze up."

Jake turned to face Hayley fully, his sweet breath lightly caressing Hayley's cheek and making her shiver involuntarily.

"Hayley, even if this isn't Gus, whatever is going on was somehow caused by us all those years ago. We can't just drop the fight and let a bunch of rookie Troop members finish our battles. We have to do this, to wipe our slate clean or we'll never be able to move forward."

Hayley held her breath for a moment before crossing her arms and throwing herself against the leather upholstery.

"Fine." She muttered, "Do it your way, but if any one of us gets injured or killed, don't say 'I told you so'."

Jake and Felix visibly congratulated themselves.

"The old Lakewood Troop, back together again to take on one last mission!" Jake chortled.

"Yeah!" Felix agreed, "This is the best day since I got to study the untapped potential of the Gelatinous Cube!"

* * *

><p>Hayley looked between the 3 teens in front of her and couldn't help but smile at them.<p>

They reminded her so much of she, Jake, and Felix at that age.

Gena was apparently the smartest and oldest of the trio, with an IQ that was very nearly the same as Felix's when he was a teenager. She was also, perhaps, the most exotic looking of the bunch, being a bit tall for her age, perhaps 5-foot-9, and perfectly curved; not fat, but not rail thin either (she had shape). The girl had skin like a Greek Goddess, her complexion smooth and her body a perfectly tanned caramel color giving her a very sultry appearance. Her hair was cut into a short, messy pixie style, the ends curling ever so slightly, making it apparent that if she grew it out, it'd fall into perfect little waves about her peach shaped face. Her face was perfectly shaped, the cheekbones high and her nose a cute little button just below her eyes that were a stunning shade of blue-green, holding a person's attention through the thin lens of her rectangular glasses. All-in-all, she was a beautiful girl and the most logical, intelligent, observant teenager Hayley had every met; the near exact incarnation of Felix.

Blake was the only boy in the group, but was a bit of an over achiever; he had plans for the future and knew what to do to get them accomplished. His sandy hair was kept short and lightly spiked across the front, bringing attention to his deep gray eyes that seemed to almost change shades in the light. He was covered in a light tan that covered every inch of his body; whether it was from sports or monster hunting, Hayley couldn't tell. His 5-foot-10 frame was slightly muscled, showing only barely through his clothes that hugged his body in a very comfortable kind of way. He was smug and perhaps a little over ambitious by the sounds of all the activities and sports he took on, causing Hayley to blush; he sounded a lot like her when she was in high school. Hopefully, she hadn't been quite as vain.

The last Troop member, she noticed, was an average height girl named Patricia. Her 5-foot-5 frame seemed to be lost in all of the height in the room, but she looked like she had a fiery spirit. The girl's hair was bizarrely long for the profession, the dark tendrils falling just past her natural waist even though it was braided into a high ponytail. Her skin was eerily pale, fading into a creamy, almost Asian complexion despite her obviously Caucasian ethnicity. Her eyes were just as dark as her hair, a deep brown that was almost hypnotizing in the bright lights of HQ, reflecting whatever she seemed to be looking at. She was a fairly thin, frail looking girl, her bust being the biggest part of her, but no more than a potential C-cup. She looked as though if the wind blew too hard or if you talked too loudly around her that she would simply crumple under the external forces, but from the moment that she had taken Hayley into a hug, Hayley knew how deceiving her looks were. She had muscle under that thin skin of hers and even though she didn't seem to care too much about what happened, Hayley knew that she was a smart girl, ready to take action when needed. Patricia reminded Hayley of Jake; ready when needed, cunning when necessary, and full of bizarre contradictions.

"What in the world were you doing out there, Patricia?" Blake lashed out, catching Hayley's attention.

"I was going by my gut, Blake." Patricia shot back, her voice a sharp sound against Hayley's ears.

Even the girl's voice was unbefitting of the rest of her.

"Gut?" He chortled out, "Working based on your gut will get you killed! The Troop manual said that the most efficient way to capture a Siren is for one person to aim low and the other to place the net high! What you did was the exact opposite!"

"We caught it, didn't we?" She offered.

Hayley sighed at the familiarity of their situation. She and Jake would argue like that all the time, Jake going defensive about his natural instincts and she getting mad that he refused to do it by the book. How she craved the good old days when she wasn't hormonally charged by him and when Gus was still Gus…

"That was the most amateur thing you've done thus far!" Blake bit out.

"This coming from the newest addition to our Troop?" Patricia seethed.

"Enough." Gena said coolly, coming between the 2 members.

"If you two continue to bicker, I will have no choice but to use my seniority over you guys to have you replaced."

This seemed to shock the other 2 members as they began to plead their cases, sounding almost like they had focused their argument on Gena. She silenced them with a single raised hand.

"Enough. This constant bickering isn't optimal for continued sufficiency. If you two can't sort out your obvious frustrations with one another, then I'll have no choice but to find two new teammates that can."

Blake and Patricia looked at one another before quickly stomping away in different directions. Hayley looked at Gena as she looked at her.

"You wouldn't actually give them the boot, would you?" Hayley asked.

"Of course not," Gena responded, her eyes soft, "They are the best Troop teammates I've had throughout my six years."

This confession seemed to shock Hayley; 6 years of being in the Troop was a long time and, considering how old the girl was, she would have had to join the Troop at 10 or 11. Gena pulled a chair up next to her before continuing.

"I know what you're thinking and yes, I've been in the Troop since I was almost eleven. Second youngest recruit next to Dr. Brandenburg and prophesized to take his spot as Troop Head. I've had seven other teammates in my short career and none of them could even come close to how efficient these guys are. Don't let their anger fool you, though; the two of them are madly in love with each other."

"Oh," Hayley said lamely, "Are they dating?"

"No, but I can tell from the way that they look at each other when they think no one is looking. Each thinks about the other constantly, but their fear of rejection and denial translates into frustration which comes out after a difficult mission. Especially one where the other could have easily gotten hurt. I just wish they could see it for themselves so they could stop their pointless bickering."

Gena sighed as she finished her statement, running her hands through her soft, short locks.

Hayley was surprised by how wise and mature Gena was. It was almost like looking at her own years of Troop service through the eyes of an advisor. If only Hayley had been wise like that, maybe she wouldn't have made nearly as many mistakes or come to regret so many of the choices she had made…A soft set of uneven clicking sounded behind her causing Gena and Hayley to turn around. It was Jake and Felix, back from their ventures in the Troop files. They were holding what appeared to be a large manila folder.

Felix looked at Gena.

"Did you capture and detain the Siren?" he asked.

"Yes, Mr. Garcia." Gena responded, "She's located in cell block QB-twenty three. I'm actually about to go and make sure that everything is secure before rounding up the other two and heading home."

"Good. Enjoy the rest of your weekend." Felix told the girl.

She nodded and offered a weak smile before heading towards the Monster Blocks. Felix faced his attention back towards Hayley and Jake.

"Now, this is all the data I've scrounged up so far." He said, placing the file in front of Hayley.

"This is a pretty big file." Hayley stated.

"It looks that way because not only does it have a list of all of the victims, but it also contains theories, potential monsters, connections between victims, everything. Only about a quarter of this whole file is definite facts." Felix informed them.

He opened the file, revealing the top page to be a list of information regarding potential monsters. Jake was the first to speak.

"Well," Jake sighed, "Where do we start?"

* * *

><p><strong>Tai's Territorial Tirade<strong>:

And now comes a little bit more of the plot along with our favorite Techno-Geek, Felix.

I was originally going to end this chapter at Felix's Gelatinous Cube comment, but I just couldn't do it. At that length, it felt more like a filler chapter (much like chapters 2 and 4) and I couldn't just up and do that.

We also get to know a little more of what Felix has been working on. Nothing definite, but some idea that he's put a lot of time and effort into.

And we kind of get to see some of that repetition, that similar pattern that arises within the Troop itself. We get to meet their replacements; Gena who's a bit like Felix except less eccentric, Blake who's a bit like Hayley, but is the new guy that Jake was, and Patricia who's a bit like Jake, but with a type of cunning, fiery, complex personality.

This chapter was definitely more of a filler chapter in the sense that it gives the central plot some room to blossom, but it's not meant to consume the entirety of the story itself. The next chapter will have some of both the central plot and the side plots and I'm going to try and keep it that way.

Anyway, that's my thoughts over this chapter. Not one of my favorites, but necessary to keep the ball rolling.

And, as a side note, please forgive me for the little stretch of time between the last update and this update. 4th of July weekend kicked my ass. It was the first time my nephew had the chance to see fireworks, so I had to buy some. And my friend just told me she's driving from San Marcos to see me and is now going to crash at my place with her boyfriend which means cleaning galore. And I got totally enthralled in the Casey Anthony verdict for a couple days (and I am thoroughly outraged, although I accept the jury's verdict. I'm just waiting for the jurors to come forward and explain how they came up with that verdict). And I got caught up in painting a new self portrait that I plan to have done by the time that same friend shows up at my place on the 15th. And I was having a short stint of writer's block in terms of chapter 10 and I didn't want to update until I finished that chapter. So, I'll try and make sure that doesn't happen again.

Please R&R!


	6. Misgiving

Title: …Et Encore Une Fois…

Summary: There was a sickness that was drifting over Lakewood. One that our Troop members hadn't seen since they were freshmen in high school. Seeing as they were in command when this sickness initially began, our favorite members must re-enlist and take down this virus once and for all. After all, they were getting far too old for this, far too fast…Jake X Hayley

Rating: M  
>Genre: Romance, Drama<br>Series: The Troop

Pairing: Hayley X Jake

_**Last Time…**_

"Now, this is all the data I've scrounged up so far." He said, placing the file in front of Hayley.

"This is a pretty big file." Hayley stated.

"It looks that way because not only does it have a list of all of the victims, but it also contains theories, potential monsters, connections between victims, everything. Only about a quarter of this whole file is definite facts." Felix informed them.

He opened the file, revealing the top page to be a list of information regarding potential monsters. Jake was the first to speak.

"Well," Jake sighed, "Where do we start?"

**Chapter 6**

Jake looked up tiredly at the large bulletin board of information that he, Felix, and Hayley had created regarding the case.

They had been at it all weekend, doing nothing but hypothesizing and going over the facts enough times for Jake to memorize them. It was absolutely maddening to Jake that they had yet to move or act in any way; this felt more like they were manning a police investigation than catching an essence eating monster and its deranged master.

"Okay," Jake sighed, rubbing his chin.

He was sure it hadn't been this stubbly feeling this morning.

"Victims included Alejandro Rosenbaum, a known bully and antagonist to Gus, his two lackeys, Jeffery Baker and Zachary Davis, a handful of guys who were once on the Lakewood football team, and a now retired English teacher. All of which died due to cardiac arrest."

Felix nodded sleepily at Jake's assessment.

"Correct," Felix conceded, "Each of these particular people in some way made Gus' life a living hell."

Hayley looked up suddenly, "Why would he kill an English teacher?"

"Turns out Miss Walters was having an affair with Gus' father which in turn caused all types of havoc in his personal life." Felix filled in.

Hayley nodded her understanding as Jake continued to list off the facts they had complied so far.

"Some of the initial symptoms all of the victims exhibited—both those that died and somehow survived—included dizziness, fatigue, involuntary muscular spasms and muscular pain, fever, nausea, dehydration, hallucinations, slurred speech patterns, blindness, intense mood swings, and even a type of mild depression." Jake told them.

"Most of which appear to be nothing more than common or curable ailments on their own." Hayley added.

"But to us are common symptoms of a particularly powerful essence eater, such as a Changeling, Succubus-slash-Incubus, or a type of Djinni." Felix further supplemented.

"So, which of those monsters would you say is the most likely to be doing this?" Hayley asked, her attention towards Felix.

"Well," Felix began, "We can automatically throw out a Changeling because they tend to feed purely on their host family; all of these people are far too unconnected to be blood-related. The Succubus or Incubus invades dreams and tends to not feed off the person's entire being, just their sexual thoughts and intentions, both of which wouldn't leave people dead, just particularly moody or fatigued. The one that I've got my money on is the Djinni; it acts of its own accord, but also craves direction. Its ability to possess the human body and drain it of its essence can cripple and kill in some cases. And a lot of the symptoms that Djinn can cause all have to do with the jumbling of electrical impulses within the body which appear as muscle spasms, fever, nausea, hallucinations, depression, etc."

Jake rubbed his face with his hands. He was so very tired of speculating and going off of barely any information at all. It was wearing him out. He looked at the clock sitting at his old Troop desk. It screamed an anger _5:27 a.m_. in neon red letters. Jake sighed for about the thousandth time that weekend; it was already Monday morning.

"Hayley and I better head back to the hotel." Jake informed Felix, "It's five thirty in the morning and people will probably be getting up soon to go to work. We don't want to be seen exiting the school before any of the students have even eaten breakfast."

"You're right, Jake." Felix said, "We'll pick this up with fresh eyes later in the afternoon. You guys go and get some sleep."

Jake lightly shook Hayley to get her to wake up enough so that they could leave. They entered the elevator, the bright fluorescent lights blinding to their eyes.

"Doesn't Felix have to teach in a couple hours?" Hayley asked, her hand over her mouth to suppress a yawn.

"Yeah, but he teaches—"Jake stopped in mid sentence, yawning in response to Hayley's yawn, "—a Quantum Mechanics course. He only has one class of that, and it's not even full. Aside from that, he works as an administrator and everyone knows that administrator's come and go as they please."

Hayley seemed to agree with that statement as the door reopened, revealing the familiar Janitor's closest located next to the Languages hallway.

"I still don't understand how Felix, being the genius that he is, would dare to teach a bunch of scientific gibberish to a room full of high school students, no matter how much they could possibly understand it." Hayley sighed at the idea, "You'd think that he'd feel happier teaching a room full of graduate students the importance of M Theory; high school students just can't grasp it."

"Oh," Jake smirked, "Sort of like how your students couldn't grasp the concepts of themes, motifs, and symbols?"

Hayley's face turned a lovely shade of red as Jake took on a smug appearance. She hit him in the shoulder as hard as she could despite how tired she was.

"Don't mock me!" She said, wagging a finger in his direction, "Or my grad students! I'm only hard on them because I see the unrecognized potential that they possess!"

"Yeah, sure." Jake chided, walking farther ahead of her down the barely lit corridor.

"I think that you just like pushing around people who are below you."

"Well, think what you want to think," Hayley huffed, feeling bizarrely like she once did back when she attended Lakewood High.

"But the way I treat my students will benefit them in the future, regardless of what you—or anyone else—thinks."

She quickly caught up to Jake, both of whom made their way out the back door of the school. It was still fairly cool and dark outside as they made their way to the car Jake's mother had let him utilize until he left. Jake quickly unlocked the doors to his mother's 2010 Toyota Matrix before sliding into the driver's seat with Hayley close behind, taking a seat to his right.

The last time they both had been in this car (aside from earlier that morning) was during the summer after their senior year of high school. Jake still smiled at the mere memory of it; it had been the first time that they had been…intimate as a couple, right in the backseat where Jake's jacket was lying now.

Jake decided to take a peek at Hayley to see if she was reminiscing the same as he was, but only found her already asleep, her cheek flush to the window, her hands tucked beneath her arms, and the only sign of her breathing coming from the light condensation forming on the window. He decided to leave her be as he took a soft turn up ahead.

He remembered how his mother had gotten upset over the blood stain that remained of Hayley's broken chastity; she had sworn that he was never allowed to use her car again for fear of the crimes he could possibly commit. Jake knew that his mother knew what the stain was really from, but he understood her embarrassment and denial in wanting to confront it. He still vaguely wondered if that thought came into her mind when he and Hayley showed up the night prior for dinner and asked for the car. Or better yet, was the stain still in the backseat? He suddenly wanted to know.

Jake pulled into the Lakewood hotel, putting the car in park before scrambling into the back seat. He strained his eyes in the misty, mid-morning light, searching for the proof that he and Hayley truly had been together at one point in their young adulthood. It took him a moment before his eyes landed on the small, almost completely scrubbed out, now-brown, tell-tale stain. He smirked in satisfaction as Hayley began to stir.

"Are we here already?" She mumbled out, unbuckling her seatbelt and looking backwards at Jake.

"What're you doing?" Hayley abruptly asked, sounding more awake all of a sudden.

"Guess what?" Jake began smugly, "I found the left over blood stain from our first time."

Hayley's face contorted into an alien expression as her eyelids and eyebrows suddenly shot up.

"I don't know if I should be disgusted or embarrassed…" She ground out.

"Just feel both."

* * *

><p>Susan McArthur had always been a fairly kind-hearted spirit, right? Altruistic and carefree when necessary. She wouldn't go out of her way to do a person an ill turn.<p>

Never ever…

Okay, maybe once, but how was she supposed to react when she found out the man that she was engaged to was sleeping with that slut Sarah Snodgrass. Sure, rigging her ex-girlfriend's house and successively landing her in the hospital with a broken femur and fractured pelvic bone had been a little harsh, but she had been all pumped up with raw emotion for the love that Sarah had destroyed with her promiscuous ways. Any normal person would have done the same as her.

Or maybe she was just fooling herself into believing that.

But no matter how much she had wronged Sarah, she was sure that she didn't deserve this.

After all, she was dying.

She had to be dying; that was the only explanation she could find for seeing her own self floating above her, the life slowly draining out of her in a way that she never knew was possible while some creep that looked vaguely familiar watched in sick fascination.

She was sure that she knew him somehow, but she couldn't think…What was his name?

Matthew?

Damien?

No, it was longer, more archaic than that.

Aristotle?

God, she was dizzy and just getting dizzier as she lay in the cool grass and looked up at the sky, the blue hue the last thing she saw before her vision went to black.

* * *

><p><em>Hayley watched as the landscape of Lakewood went whizzing by her window as Jake sped down the highway towards their small apartment. She was very much content, just sitting there next to him, her small digits entwining with the long fingers of his free hand as the town they had grown up in became smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror. She knew what everyone had been thinking at the Graduation ceremony, what had been going through their minds as she walked right up to Jake and kissed him like they were 16 all over again. Their relationship had remained well hidden within the gossiping walls of Lakewood High, but now it was out in the open for everyone to see and Hayley felt weirdly liberated and giddy as she had glanced at their shocked faces and bewildered expressions. <em>

_And now she and Jake were headed back to their own little piece of paradise, ready to divulge in the life that they had been secretly living with one another for the past few months. Hayley let a happy smile cross her lips as she let the wind play with her hair; surely she could never grow tired of this…_

Hayley opened her eyes to find her vision no longer being greeted by dizzying lanadscape passing her by, but by the rather dull color of her hotel ceiling as she wiped the tears from her face. She was torturing herself all over again with these memories of her once relationship with Jake, replaying all of those happy moments over and over as she was reduced to tears. She couldn't understand it.

For years, she hadn't seen Jake, hadn't talked to him, and hadn't even attempted to find out how he was doing. The dreams of her memories had slowly died down the more she kept herself busy and refrained from thinking about them, but suddenly they were rising back to surface and flooding her mind with images of things that she had long ago locked away to never return to.

It was all Jake's fault for bringing up the stain in the backseat and for throwing her back into those days when she was happy and satisfied to just lay next to him and watch him as he slept. Hayley groped at her chest, shielding her bloodshot eyes from view of the outside world as her conflicting emotions began to manifest themselves into a physical pain that thumped against her ribcage. It was unbearable and suddenly a week of this seemed like such a torturous trial and she was no longer confident that she would be able to last until Monday.

* * *

><p>"Hayley, your hair looks fine." Jake said nonchalantly; he was more than ready to leave the cramped hotel room that Hayley decided to occupy.<p>

"I know my hair looks fine," She said just as casually, "But I want it to look better than fine. I want it to look ethereal."

Hayley sighed as she held the curling iron close to her face, wrapping a wavy strand of hair around it. Sure her hair was curled, but it wasn't in the perfect barrel curls that had been nominated for "Best Hair" when she was both a junior and senior in high school and Jake just didn't seem to understand the importance of that. This was not just a preparatory meeting for their big 3-day-long, 10 year reunion that was to take place on Friday. This was everyone's first chance to size her up, to see what had become of Miss Senior Vice President Perfection Hayley soon-to-be-Yarborough Steele and in her eyes, she had to be absolutely flawless even if she was going with none other than Jake, guy voted most likely to crash and burn in high school.

Hayley could feel Jake approach her from behind, her eyes too busy looking at her now perfect ringlet to focus on him. She could feel his large, warm, calloused hands pull back the hair she had already curled as he placed his chin on her shoulder. His voice was husky in her ear.

"Hayley, if you were anymore stunning you would block out the sun with your brilliance alone." He whispered.

Hayley held back the need to shiver as she shook him off.

"That was the single corniest line you've ever fed me, Jake." She ground out.

But instead of the words coming out in the angry tone she had wanted, they sounded more like a barely suppressed whimper against her lips. Hayley cursed at her body's deception.

Jake shrugged, making his way back to the bed before plopping down on it and turning on the Hotel TV.

"Had to try though, right?"

Hayley decided to take an extra 20 minutes curling her hair before finally realizing that she couldn't prolong the suffering that was soon to come. She grudgingly got in the car, Jake taking the wheel as she looked out at the passing scenery. It took about 15 minutes for the duo to drive up to the convention center that they were hosting the bulk of the reunion at, giving Hayley more than enough time to dread the upcoming event.

Hayley felt her hand involuntarily grasp at Jake's forearm as he took the keys out of the ignition and made to get out of the car.

"What if things go badly?" she heard herself blurt out.

Damn her nerves! She was just so tense, so unready to be judged by her peers all over again. As a teenager, she lived for the pressure; she had lived for the dressing up and coming to school to be the object of everyone's affection. But 10 years had made her forget the strain that it always caused. 10 years had undoubtedly made her…well, soft, in a proverbial sense.

Jake grabbed her hand and held it between his palms before staring at her straight in the eye.

"You'll be fine." He said slowly, "You look great. You smell great. You are great, so let's get a move on."

The duo exited the car fluidly, walking up the steps of the Lakewood Convention Center before they were abruptly stopped by a familiar face.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Hayley Perfection. Thank you for gracing us with your presence."

Hayley felt her right eye involuntarily twitch, "Angie Crabtree. How nice to see you again."

* * *

><p>Felix sat down next to the dehydrated woman, choosing his words carefully.<p>

"Now, Susan, I need you to tell me exactly what happened." He said as calmly as he could.

Susan closed her eyes tight, trying her hardest to remember exactly what had happened to land her in the ICU.

"Um…I remember being in the woods." She told him, unsure of what she was saying, "I remember thinking that I was dying because I could see me, but it wasn't me, you know?"

Felix nodded slowly; apparently the monster had taken her form as it drained her. Definitely Djinn.

"And there was a guy there…Standing next to a tree…Just watching…"

Felix perked up, pulling out a picture from his passenger bag full of data pertaining to the case.

"Did he look like this?" He asked, pulling out a picture of Gus from when he was admitted to the Mental Institute.

Susan nodded vigorously, grasping at the photo.

"Yes!" She said, "But his features…they weren't so pronounced….They were softer, like when you're a kid, you know? His chin was rounder and his cheeks a little chubbier."

Felix nodded his understanding as he put the picture away. If it weren't for the fact that the woman knew absolutely nothing of what had happened to her, he would have snarked her without a second thought. But Susan appeared to be lost in her memory, not sure of what she had gone through and not sure if anyone else would believe her either.

Felix placed his hand on her pale arm, squeezing there before reassuring her that whatever had happened, she needed to put out of her mind.

He soon left the hospital room, more confused than he had been before regarding the case. There was no connection between Susan and Gus; she hadn't even lived in the area until Gus was institutionalized. What was the connection between them? Surely there wasn't one…And what was with that description of Gus? She had personified him as looking cherub like, something that he surely had grown out of.

He scratched his head at the puzzle before him.

* * *

><p><strong>Tai's Territorial Tirade<strong>:

I can't remember if I put this section in for the last chapter or not…hm…now I'm going to wonder…

Anyway, I just wanted to clear up something from the beginning of the chapter. Remember when I brought up Jake's mother's car being a 2010 Toyota Matrix? Of course you do. Well, before anyone starts questioning me because of the mix up of the chronological order, I just want to make one thing clear.

Based on the time the show started and based on the statement Felix made in the episode "A Moth to the Spotlight," they didn't start high school until 2009-2010. So, they didn't graduate until 2014. This means that the time this is happening is during the year 2024-ish. This is all based on potentially hazardous information that was vaguely provided within the series.

Based on all of that, you can say that when Jake and Hayley were Seniors, his mother still had the 2010 Toyota Matrix and that it was probably her older car, thus giving her due course to lend it to Jake and yada, yada, yada…You see where I'm going here?

Anyway, hopefully that cleared up any confusion around that little detail.

Also, I just want to say thanks to the few of you still sticking around for this story despite my bi-polarness and near deletion of this story. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue this narrative pass chapter 10 yet, but I'm starting to feel like it would only be right if I at least attempted to finish this story. Just for the sake of finishing it. So, I 'm going to try re-tackling chapter 11 and I'll see how that goes. But the story is kind of getting me down even though 's review gave me an exponential amount of confidence about it as a whole. :) I hope my plot doesn't let you down!

And thanks so much for the 10 of you who reviewed. I was having a mini pity party over the fact that it felt like only the few of you guys reviewing were reading this, but I've resolved myself to just being happy that you few are interested in the story as it is. So, thank you so much and I hope you guys enjoy every chapter that I throw at you!

Please R & R!


	7. Notorious

Title: …Et Encore Une Fois…

Summary: There was a sickness that was drifting over Lakewood. One that our Troop members hadn't seen since they were freshmen in high school. Seeing as they were in command when this sickness initially began, our favorite members must re-enlist and take down this virus once and for all. After all, they were getting far too old for this, far too fast…Jake X Hayley

Rating: M

Genre: Romance, Drama

Series: The Troop

Pairing: Hayley X Jake

_**Last Time…**_

Felix nodded his understanding as he put the picture away. If it weren't for the fact that the woman knew absolutely nothing of what had happened to her, he would have snarked her without a second thought. But Susan appeared to be lost in her memory, not sure of what she had gone through and not sure if anyone else would believe her either.

Felix placed his hand on her pale arm, squeezing there before reassuring her that whatever had happened, she needed to put out of her mind.

He soon left the hospital room, more confused than he had been before regarding the case. There was no connection between Susan and Gus; she hadn't even lived in the area until Gus was institutionalized. What was the connection between them? Surely there wasn't one…And what was with that description of Gus? She had personified him as looking cherub like, something that he surely had grown out of.

He scratched his head at the puzzle before him.

**Chapter 7**

Hayley could feel her teeth grinding as she sat stoically in the passenger seat of Jake's car. She couldn't leave the preparatory reunion meeting fast enough. From the moment that she came face-to-face with Angie Crabtree's hypercritical, overly abrasive façade, she knew that she would be straining not to strangle someone.

Seriously, what was that woman's problem? Angie was 28 and still held some deep rooted vendetta against the rather unbiased woman that Hayley was.

After all, Hayley had never intentionally been mean to the girl, had never gone out of her way to disgruntle her or any other person for that matter. Yet, somehow the smaller woman found some way to hold Hayley responsible for all the misfortunes that happened to her all the way back in high school and refused to let go of them even to this day. Sure, she may have accidentally shoved that cupcake into her blouse, and she may have given off a very aloof air when she rushed passed her and pushed that pie into her face, and she could see how her conveniently finding her long lost dog could be perceived as suspicious, and she had to admit that it was partially her fault for the poor woman being blackballed from working as a news anchor (not that she would ever remember that it was her), but that still left no reason for her to be bitter after nearly 10 years.

Yet, the fact that she was still resentful was not the worst part of the annoyance that Angie Crabtree had become. No, it was the simple fact that she was a journalist at heart and knew not the definition of "tact" and "privacy." Everything that Hayley did held the potential for front page news coverage in Angie's eyes. And even if no one read it, it still bothered her immensely that the woman would be willing to plaster someone else's personal life all over the news. Hell, if she had wanted people to know the nitty gritty about her sex life or about her (not-so-amazing) engagement, then she would have simply explained it all herself rather than have the woman poke and prod just to pick and choose what to publish.

Hayley huffed and threw herself against the passenger seat, her face burning from the frustration that Angie had ignited within her. Jake gave her a quick glance, his eyebrow slightly cocked at Hayley's demeanor.

"You okay there, buddy?" Jake asked slowly, afraid that the woman beside him would snap violently.

"No!" Hayley yelled, "Did you hear Angie? 'Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Grand Master Puba, her Royal Highness, Oh-so-successful Hayley Steele.' Ugh! I'm so sick of her! I can't believe that there was a time in my life where I actually was upset that she didn't like me! I no longer care if she likes me or not, I just never want to have to deal with her again!"

Hayley threw herself against her seat once more, folding her arms and blowing a strand of hair out of her face in the process. She was visibly distraught and Jake was very much the type of man to get upset to see the woman he loved so disconcerted. He couldn't quite tell what had caused him to pull over, but it felt like the right thing to do even when Hayley began questioning his motives. Pulling the key from the ignition, Jake leaned over into Hayley's seat, invading the little space she had as he cupped her rosy cheeks and stared purposefully into her eyes.

"Hayley," he whispered softly, "The reason Angie is always so sarcastic and rude toward you is because you had—and still have—the potential for amazing things. You see the possibilities in things, not just the face value or what everyone else sees as being there. You are far more intimidating and sincere than Angie ever could be and it's disarming to her because she doesn't understand how anyone could be so amazing, yet humble. Don't let her get to you because she's not worth the headache."

Hayley felt disarmed by Jake's analysis of her situation, amazed that the same man who didn't know what potpourri was ("Is it a type of soup?") could sit there and speculate so confidently that it actually put her mind at ease.

For a moment, her eyes registered the closeness of their lips, measuring the approximate distance she would have to brave before capturing that unmanned territory of skin. And she was positive by the look in Jake's eyes that he was thinking something along the same lines. Yet, they sat there, frozen in the moment, waiting for the other to blink or lean in and take control. But Hayley refused to lose that self-control just yet, especially after their small love tryst in the airplane lavatory. So, she pulled away, her eyes sinking to the floor as Jake started the car, his mood one of bemusement.

Hayley had a sinking feeling that the week was suddenly going to be much more trying than she had initially estimated.

* * *

><p>"So, what you're saying is that the latest attack was on someone completely unrelated to Gus in any way by a person who looks like a childlike imitation of him?"<p>

Hayley raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"Are you kidding?"

Felix shifted in his seat uncomfortably before addressing Hayley.

"No I'm not," He conceded.

Patricia, Blake, and Gena looked on in interest as the Troop they replaced plopped down exasperatedly in their respective seats.

"So," Hayley began, smoothing out her sundress before directing her gaze back at Felix, "What you're saying is that there is even less evidence now than before of this being linked to Gus?"

"No!" Felix quickly chimed, "That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that the attack was almost identical to all of the other attacks, only we actually have someone who can recall the attack and the data isn't matching up as neatly with our theories as previously hoped."

"Spoken like a true scientist…"

"Well, what is a definite, Felix?" Jake muttered between interlocked fingers.

Felix straightened his blazer collar as he pulled up a file on his computer of the latest victim, Susan McArthur.

"We know that by the information given by this latest victim that the monster is a Djinni, so now we know what to focus our efforts on. We also know that, aside from Susan, all of the people attacked were somehow connected to the hazing or humiliation of Augustus. And we also know that these attacks are being plotted out by someone; the Djinn are rarely this vicious on its own."

"Felix," Jake began, "What exactly is a Djinni? I don't think we ever came across one throughout the time we were active…"

Before Jake even had the chance to finish his statement, Gena was typing away at the computer, pulling up a picture of a smoky figure on the main display. Gena crossed her arms as she pointed at the picture on the screen, her eyes transfixed on Jake.

"THAT is a Djinni." She bluntly stated.

Jake stood, walking up to the screen to further examine the picture provided by the database.

"That's a Djinni? It looks more like a shadow made up of cigar smoke."

"Exactly." Gena continued, "The Djinn have no definite form. They parade around in the form of whatever entity they feed off of. Whether it is a person or an animal, their taste is non-discriminate. But even that shape is only temporary before it fades back into, as you put it, a shadow made up of cigar smoke."

"Wait." Hayley cut in, walking up behind Jake before highlighting a piece of information on the screen.

"The Djinn are…Genies?"

"You mean we get wishes?" Jake blurted.

Everyone in the room eyed Jake before Felix broke the silence.

"Um, no." Felix said, "That's a myth."

Jake's disappointment was palpable.

"The Djinn—or Djinni in its singular form—are a type of essence eating monster that takes the form of whatever entity it feeds off of for a temporary time frame, like Gena said. There are believed to be five different forms of the Djinn, each varying in power and temperament. Two of those five breeds are believed to be an immediate danger to humans just because they're extremely malicious and powerful. Luckily, the probability of them appearing in our world is slim, about one in one hundred million."

Felix scrolled through a few depictions of Djinni captured in lamps and the many different artistic renderings of them.

"Supposedly, the Djinn is born and brought into this world from fire and is very hostile towards intruders. As the legend goes, magicians or wise men and women saw the potential of the Djinn and began to make secret agreements with them in order to fulfill specific wishes. However, the Djinn are notoriously cunning and unpredictable and people didn't find it beneficial to use them when they could change at the drop of a hat. So, magicians began to trap them in brass lamps and offer the Djinni of the lamp their freedom in exchange for favors, usually two or three; hence the whole 'granting three wishes' story.

"However, rumor has it that the wise King Solomon saw no use for such blatantly mischievous creatures. So, he began capturing the Djinn himself, sealing them in lead-stopper bottles, and throwing those bottles into the open sea, never to be seen or released by man's selfishness."

HQ remained silent, all the present people digested what was just explained. Jake was the first to speak.

"Felix, is it…possible that one of those bottles that King Solomon threw into the Mediterranean ended up…in Lakewood?"

Hayley and Felix gave Jake a hard look as the younger Troop members contemplated the idea.

"I suppose it's possible…" Felix confessed unsurely, "After all, anything is really possible. It's the probability of those things happening that pose a problem. In this case, I highly doubt that the bottles would wash up in Lakewood when you calculate in the distance, current flow, waterway traffic, time…there are so many variables to consider. For all of them to line up perfectly to get the end result of a relatively fragile bottle less than a foot in size to wash up halfway across the world only to end up in a landlocked town…The chances of that are…imperceptibly fractional…practically non-existent..."

"What of the chances of a bottle ending up in Lakewood as a result of trade?" Hayley quipped.

"Surely, the probability of one of those bottles washing up on the shores of a rural village in the Middle East and slowly being traded to somewhere near Lakewood is higher."

"Of course it is!" Felix scuffed, "But you also have to remember that the whole story of King Solomon sealing away random Djinni and throwing them into the Mediterranean Sea is based on rumor. There's a good chance that those bottles don't even exist. At **least** a fifty percent chance."

"But if they did, it would be possible, right?" Jake pushed on.

"I guess! Yes! What do you want me to say?" Felix cried, abruptly standing from his chair to flip viciously through the file.

"How does whether or not King Solomon actually capturing Djinn in bottles and whether or not those bottles ended up near Lakewood have to do with the Djinni attacking the people here NOW?"

Felix froze at his statement realizing he'd answered his own sarcastic question. Hayley and Jake stared blankly at Felix's momentary stubbornness. Blake, Patricia, and even Gena decided to immerse themselves in their Troop work to hide their silent laughter.

"But…if that theory is correct, then that means that Gus can't be doing this…"

"Exactly," Hayley stated, "And if it isn't Gus, then it must be someone doing these things FOR Gus."

Jake sighed as he ran a hand through his short mane, "It looks like this just got the potential to become very complicated."

* * *

><p><strong>Tai's Territorial Tirade:<strong>

Okay, so real quick, I want to explain a little bit about this story.

I originally came up with the concept of this plot and officially started typing it up around this time last year. I knew where I was going with it and what I wanted to happen and had written up to the Angela Crabtree scene before I stopped.

2 proposal parties, 1 baby shower, 1 hospitalization and 1 near hospitalization, 13+ birthdays, 3 psychological evaluations, 3 medicated family members, 2 and a half months out of state, and a lot of technical and financial mishaps later, I finally realized that I started writing a fanfiction that I actually wanted to finish for once. So, I decided to pick this up where I had left off. (Mind you, as of late, I haven't been feeling quite as peppy about the story as I once had, but that's besides the point.) However, I couldn't remember how exactly I wanted the story to turn out and all I had to go on were a bunch of scattered around scenes that I had written beforehand to place throughout the story. So, I guess what I'm saying is that I'm kind of grasping at straws here and to just bear with me. Hopefully, I'll get it together soon and will be able to pull a half way decent story out my ass. .

With that aside, I wanted to make a comment on the whole Djinn/Djinni thing. Yes, the Djinni is the Arabic form of the English "Genie" (the "D" is silent). Yes, I understand that it is Arabic in origination and pertains more to spirits than to monsters. And yes, I also know that the whole King Solomon thing can be a bit touchy.

My response? Step off it.

The whole idea of Djinn is very abstract and I've always loved the whole paranormal/superstitious stuff. I just used my Artistic Licensing for the sake of the story, so don't get upset if you study that type of stuff and my story doesn't contain any information in the form of what you've spent your life studying (although it's highly unlikely that I'll have someone reading this who is a Professor of Arabic Mythology).

Also, I spend hours a day writing, reading, re-reading, and re-re-reading in chronological order all my chapters and after about an hour of reading the same few chapters over and over again, everything kind of looks the same. So, please forgive me for any grammatical or punctual or spelling errors. I find errors everyday in my stuff just skimming, so I'm sure there are some things in here that just don't make sense in terms of the syntax of it. This is just my premature apology for that.

And, my updates may take a little longer than normal since I got a new job and have training all this month as well as the fact that I'm trying to start school soon and I started writing up some chapters on a new Hayley X Jake ficlet. The new one will take place during their time in High School and it'll have Kirby and Cadence in it…probably…I'm still debating on if I should have it take place before or after season 2.

And sorry about the shortness of this chapter; it was more informational than anything. I'll try to update soon to make up for the length of this chapter.

So…yeah…That's it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you tune in for chapter 8!

As always, R&R!


	8. Attestation

Title: …Et Encore Une Fois…

Summary: There was a sickness that was drifting over Lakewood. One that our Troop members hadn't seen since they were freshmen in high school. Seeing as they were in command when this sickness initially began, our favorite members must re-enlist and take down this virus once and for all. After all, they were getting far too old for this, far too fast…Jake X Hayley

Rating: M

Genre: Romance, Drama

Series: The Troop

Pairing: Hayley X Jake

_**Last Time…**_

"But if they did, it would be possible, right?" Jake pushed on.

"I guess! Yes! What do you want me to say?" Felix cried, abruptly standing from his chair to flip viciously through the file.

"How does whether or not King Solomon actually capturing Djinn in bottles and whether or not those bottles ended up near Lakewood have to do with the Djinni attacking the people here NOW?"

Felix froze at his statement realizing he'd answered his own sarcastic question. Hayley and Jake stared blankly at Felix's momentary stubbornness. Blake, Patricia, and even Gena decided to immerse themselves in their Troop work to hide their silent laughter.

"But…if that theory is correct, then that means Gus isn't doing this…"

"Exactly," Hayley stated, "And if it isn't Gus, then it must be someone doing these things FOR Gus."

Jake sighed as he ran a hand through his short mane, "It looks like this just got the potential to become very complicated."

**Chapter 8**

Jake skimmed coolly through the many colorful dresses of the boutique attempting to kill time as Hayley shopped for the perfect outfit for the reunion. He simply couldn't understand how someone could put so much effort into trying to impress the people that wanted nothing more than to measure them up. Yet, here he was watching Hayley try on dress after dress that was designed to make people like her look amazing for those same people who simply wanted to see if she had eventually crashed and burned after high school.

The feeling was akin to torture for him as he stood there a mere 2 feet from her looking more and more stunning knowing that he wasn't allowed to touch or coddle her in anyway.

"What about this one Jake?" She asked, smoothing out the pleats of the slightly short sundress.

He was sure that she was purposefully torturing him.

"It reminds me a bit of that sundress that you wore on our first official date." He stated truthfully.

"Well then, this one is out." She muttered, returning to the safety of her dressing room, "I want to look sultry and sexy and fulfilled, not like I'm trying to look seventeen years old."

Jake sighed, returning to skimming through the nearby racks before stumbling upon the perfect little black dress. Snatching it up, he dropped it over the door to Hayley's dressing room.

"What's this?"

"The last dress you'll ever need." Jake commented sincerely, "I think you'll find it fits all your qualifications for the perfect dress."

Jake took a seat as Hayley put the dress on. It wasn't much longer before his waiting was rewarded with a stunning Hayley in a little black dress.

Jake's intuition had been spot on for once as she stood directly in front of him, her long locks swept over her shoulder as she adjusted the collar of the dress. It was a beautifully made sheath cocktail dress made of the most amazing feeling black colored jersey fabric he'd ever felt in his life. The sweetheart neckline hugged her chest in the most deliciously inappropriate, yet suitable way as the fabric smoothed its way over her lithe body to stop just above her knees like a second skin. The dress was sleeveless with whatever fabric holding it up forming into a choker like collar around Hayley's neck and the back was open forming a window like panel over her shoulder blades as well as the area above her chest giving her a very alluring appearance.

Jake sidled up beside her, helping Hayley fix the clasp on the front of the collar before moving out of the way of the mirror. Hayley smiled softly at her reflection.

"You picked the perfect dress, Jake."

Jake pushed aside a few locks of Hayley's hair as he rested his chin on her shoulder in the same manner he always did. Hayley bit her lip and shivered as he spoke.

"For the record," He whispered softly, "I think you always look sultry and sexy and fulfilled."

* * *

><p>Felix popped his neck as he adjusted himself in the somewhat uncomfortable waiting room chair. 48 hours of monotonous investigation into Susan McArthur's background had ended him up in the Administrative Office of the local Middle School of the neighboring town. According to what he had gathered, she was nothing short of a run of the mill Middle School student conflict counselor. There was nothing extraordinary about her recent lifestyle and nothing particularly stellar about her past that gave him, Jake, or Hayley any reason to believe that Gus held any hatred against her.<p>

As far as the records seemed to show, she was a relatively out of the way student in high school and she was a relatively out of the way employee until recently.

"Mr. Garcia," The receptionist said, "Principal Simmons will see you now."

Felix rose from his seat, fixing his tie as he thanked the secretary. Walking through the door, he was greeted by a fairly older gentleman donning a silvered goatee with the demeanor of a drill sergeant and a bald, vein-filled head to match. Mr. Simmons stood to greet the tall Latino.

"You must be Mr. Garcia. It's a pleasure to meet you, given the circumstances."

Mr. Simmons extended a hand which Felix graciously accepted, surprising him with the strength of his grip.

"I was shocked when I heard about the attack on Miss McArthur. Surely you don't believe that she may have been involved in anything…illegal or illicit that could have been the root of this?"

Felix shook his head to quell the man's suspicions, as he took a seat across from the elder man.

"Of course not." Felix assured, "Miss McArthur's record is as clean as her personality."

Mr. Simmons seemed to be assuaged by that fact until a thought flashed passed his eyes.

"If there is no reason to the attack, then what is it exactly that your organization hopes to uncover through rifling through her professional life?" Mr. Simmons leaned forward on his desk, his hands clasped tightly together in interest.

"As a matter of fact, I don't even know what it is that this organization of yours does."

Felix cleared his throat before speaking.

"Our organization is a highly elite, highly confidential faction of the government. We're adamantly endorsed by the president as a matter of fact, all though, if asked, he would completely deny our existence."

Mr. Simmons' eyebrows shot up at the statement.

"We believe that whoever was responsible for the attack on Miss McArthur did it in response to a former criminal's…childhood quarrels. We're hoping to find some clues as to who that would be through her work patterns and personal habits."

Mr. Simmons paled at the idea.

"You don't think that anyone here would want to harm Susan?"

"Well, we're here to eliminate the possibility."

The stoic man leaned back in his chair, contemplating Felix's inquiry as he stroked his gray facial hair lightly. He nodded gruffly at Felix's request, much to his pleasure.

"Of course, of course. Please, help yourself to her office and all her paperwork. You'll find no aversion from my faculty members."

* * *

><p>Hayley was walking down the street, looking at the many shops lining the sidewalk. She was feeling rather peckish, but was enjoying the time to herself. Ever since Jake had appeared in her classroom nearly 2 weeks ago, she had been on her toes, fighting her urges to slip into all the sick terrible physical pleasures that their bodies could fulfill. It was nice to feel sane after so many days of being 3 feet away from temptation.<p>

Just as she was about to enter a small diner she, Jake, and Felix use to frequent back in high school, the wind picked up, pushing all of her hair about her face. Hayley closed her eyes, relishing in the feel of the cool wind against her overheated skin. It felt as though words were brushing against her cheeks, leaving the flesh there alight with electricity. There was something wrong here; she could just feel it in her gut…

Hayley's eyes shot open.

She could almost hear what sounded like a whisper of her name floating by on the light breeze, barely there, but so abundant that it almost hurt her ears. Like white noise filtering through the air and encircling around her small frame.

Hayley spun around, looking for the source of the noise, looking for the source of the whispering almost frantically. She stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes landed on sandy blonde hair and electric blue eyes. For a moment, she thought it was trick of the light or that she was seeing things, but the longer she stared the more it became apparent that what she was seeing was correctly.

At the end of the street stood a man looking so uncannily like Augustus that it almost made Hayley feel queasy. Yet, the man's gaze didn't hold that same intensity as Gus'; they were softer, almost unsure of how to react to her, very unlike Gus' calculated, indomitable personality. Even some of his features were a bit unlike Gus'. Gus had a very pronounced face, his jaw very much absent of any residual baby fat that he may have had, his hair so blonde that it was almost silver in the sunlight, and his eyes so blue that they were almost opalescent. The man standing 20 feet from her had features that were much too young for the man she believed him to be; his hair was a little bit too brown, his face a little too round, his eyes a bit more green than they should have been. For a moment, Hayley relaxed certain that the man she was looking at wasn't who she believed him to be, until she heard something that she was sure only Gus would have told her.

The man turned, walking around the corner. Hayley sprung to action.

"GUS!" She shrieked, running after him, "GUS! Please wa—"

She turned the corner, sure she would find Gus just a few feet away, but she found herself alone along the stretch of sidewalk. Soon she found herself spinning around every which way, searching for Augustus, unsure of where he could have disappeared to, his words replaying over and over again in her head.

She had to tell Jake and Felix.

* * *

><p>"Okay, thanks for the update Felix."<p>

Jake threw his phone back onto the nightstand of his hotel room before taking his shirt off and throwing himself out on the bed.

In 2 days all of the people who had ever wronged Gus would converge upon a single spot in town. He along with Felix and Hayley were sure that whatever was going on would climax on that day and they were still no closer to figuring out what was happening than before Felix had figured out what monster it was.

And then, there was Hayley.

She was a whole obstacle by herself.

Ever since they had landed in Lakewood, they had been tiptoeing around one another. He was constantly testing the waters, looking for an opening to swoop in and take his prize, but she was a fortress, impenetrable except of her own command. There had been moments, fleeting seconds where he was sure he could see her defenses weakening. Yet they were so swift that he could explain them away as tricks of the eyes.

The stress was mounting and he wasn't quite sure how he would be able to handle it soon.

Sighing, Jake shifted his head on his pillow, deciding it to be a good time to catch a nap. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep when he was awakened by a knock on his door. Sluggishly, Jake made his way to the person making the offending sound only to come face to face with a flustered looking Hayley. She seemed to show a great appreciation for his physique as her eyes scanned the planes of his muscular chest to his well-built broad shoulders before landing on his strong jaw line and fairly short tousled curly hair.

"Not that I'm not enjoying the sudden attention," he stated thickly breaking Hayley out of her gaze, "But why exactly are you here?"

Hayley shoved passed him and entered his room, flicking on the light along the way. Taking a seat on Jake's still warm bed, she tossed her purse to the side. Her sigh was uncharacteristically strained as she looked at Jake who was leaning against the now closed door.

"Have you gotten any updates from Felix?" she asked quietly.

Jake was shocked by her abnormal shyness.

"Hayley," Jake said slowly, "What's wrong?"

"Has he had any luck finding Gus?"

"No. Nothing." Jake took a seat next to Hayley on the bed.

"Hayley, what's going on?"

Hayley took a deep breath before she spoke.

"I think I saw Gus today."

Jake gave her a hard look, unsure if she was toying with his sleep laden mind. But her eyes were focused and shimmering with unshed tears and he knew that she wasn't playing and that the guilt and fear was eating her up inside.

"What?"

Hayley shook her head slowly as she recalled what had happened.

"I was out getting some food when I felt like…" Hayley felt herself grasping for an explanation before she continued, "I just felt…weird. Like there was something off…I turned around looking to see if someone was calling my name when I saw him. Although, he didn't quite look like the Gus we knew. He looked…"

Hayley felt the words escape her before she found herself speaking once again.

"Younger maybe? Just slightly different, you know? His hair was a little darker and his face a little chubbier, but his eyes were so much like Gus'…yet it didn't feel like Gus…"

"Did he do anything to you?" Jake suddenly asked, "Did he hurt you?"

Jake was suddenly a flurry of concern as he grabbed her hands and began inspecting the soft skin for damage.

"No. Not at all. He just…" Hayley pulled her hands from Jake's worried grasp.

"I think he was warning me to stay away from the reunion."

Hayley raised her head to meet Jake's gaze, her eyes a stunning mixture of concern and determination. Jake reached for his phone, not breaking the small connection they had created.

"I think Felix should know."

* * *

><p>Felix raffled through the many files of Susan McArthur's office. After several hours of looking he had yet to find anything substantial. He was literally on his last leg; he had searched high and low for any kind of connection at her home and at her job and had come up empty handed. He was finally on the last drawer of her filing cabinet, a locked section that required an administrator's key. Luckily, the principal had been smart enough to foresee the need of said key and had given Felix a copy of Susan's office keys.<p>

Opening the drawer, Felix was shocked to find it full of not just students of the middle school she counseled at, but of patients from a private practice that she must have also worked for. Pulling out a large stack of the files, he began going through each methodically before his eyes caught sight of a particular phrase on one patient's evaluation. _Psychosomatic behavioral_ _patterns_.

_**Name: **__Maximiliaan Douglass __**  
>Age:<strong>__ 16__**  
>Date of Birth:<strong>__ 12 February 1995_

_**Initial Analysis:**__ Patient appears to suffer from severe delusions and possible hallucinations that revolve around him speaking with a missing relative. It's apparent that the subject demonstrates an inability to develop further emotionally as well as suffering a disconnection from normal emotional and physical interaction with other people. His personality seems to be constantly at odds with his behavior—he seems to come off as quite meek, but is very much passive aggressive in his mannerisms—displaying the tell-tale signs of potential behavioral problems and identity disorders. There also seems to be an underlying acute paranoia as well as the possibility of a mild psychosis._

_**Diagnosis:**__ Post-Traumatic Stress, Depersonalization Disorder, Emotional Psychosis, Mild Schizophrenia  
>It is my professional opinion that the best treatment for this patient would be institutionalization for further evaluation in hopes of controlling his psychosomatic behavioral patterns.<em>

Attached to the small evaluation sheet were records of what appeared to be meetings she had with the young man with dates, times, and a recount of the many things he had told her and the things they had discussed. Felix skimmed through the many transcripts before slipping over the last one to find a picture of Gus stapled to a sheet of medical information. Only it wasn't Gus; the picture looked like Gus, but the boy in the picture didn't quite look the same. He looked more like he could be Gus' younger brother or son.

Felix reached for his phone quickly to phone Hayley and Jake. It rang almost as soon as he had grabbed it, making him jump. Felix flipped it open.

"_Felix, we have some big news to tell you._"

"Same here, meet me at the school in twenty minutes."

* * *

><p>"So what you're telling me is that the guy I saw wasn't Augustus but his brother?" Hayley questioned fluidly as Felix scanned his card to get into HQ.<p>

"See, that's the issue," Felix stated, "By the information on the psychological evaluation, he's not his brother. They look alike and are obviously related regarding the information he gave about his relative that disappeared, but the last names are different. And throughout the time that we knew Gus, not once was it ever insinuated that he had a brother. As a matter of fact, I was in his house multiple times and Gus is an only child."

"But they're obviously his close relative." Jake said, taking the picture of the boy and his medical information.

"You can tell by the structure of his face; the jaw lines are identical and the facial features are much too similar to be coincidence."

Jake looked up from the picture to see a bewildered Felix and Hayley. Jake shrugged.

"I took an anatomy and physiognomy course in college for my art."

The doors opened to a silent and empty HQ, the active Troop members busy with class. Felix sat down at the main computer, handing the file over to Hayley as Jake further examined the picture of Maximiliaan Douglass and his medical records.

"It says here that he use to say that he was speaking to his relative from another dimension." Hayley read off, "Sounds like Gus."

"Hold on," Jake abruptly said, "It says on his medical information that this kid was adopted as a baby. There's no biological family information on here. No names, no dates, no sibling information. Just regular doctor's visits and vaccinations."

"So now what?" Hayley asked them, "There's no recorded biological link between this Max guy and Gus. Just the ranting and raving of an apparently psychotic kid about a guy who's talking to him that sounds a lot like Gus."

"And the coincidence of his facial features." Jake added.

Felix nodded slowly, his hands never slowing their menstruations at the computer.

"It looks like we're going to have to find this kid and his family and get to the bottom of it."

Felix pulled up a file onto the overhanging monitor; a picture of a small yellow house engulfed the screen.

"That's his last known residence. We'll start there. Or, better yet, you two will start there. I have class in an hour."

* * *

><p>Hayley knocked feverishly at the burgundy door of the little yellow house that Maximiliaan Douglass grew up in. Moving back to her spot beside Jake, she proceeded to straighten out her colorful plaid skirt and black and white striped shirt. She noticed Jake fiddling with his tie, obviously not accustomed to looking so professional. Swatting his hand away, she made short work of the small tangled mess Jake had made. Jake chuckled at the familiarity.<p>

"Remember prom night when we went to go eat before prom and I got steak sauce all over my tie and we ended up going to a Men's Warehouse store to get me a replacement?"

Hayley let out a small giggle.

"Yeah. It's was your dad's tie and you were afraid he'd be furious so we got an even better one. The cashier thought we were some famous young couple."

Jake let out a low, rumbling snicker from the back of his throat, a sound that Hayley was sure was the most alluring thing she had ever heard. Finishing up the Windsor knot, Hayley backed away slightly, only for Jake grab one of her hands and kiss the palm ever so gently.

"Thank you, for now and for then."

Hayley stood there speechless for a moment, staring into Jake's warm chocolate orbs as the door unexpectedly opened. Hayley immediately ripped her hand away as the older woman who had opened the door looked from her to Jake.

"Yes?" she croaked out, "Can I help you?"

Jake pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket examining it as he spoke.

"Are you Mrs.…Sophie Douglass, mother of Maximiliaan Douglass?"

The older woman nodded her head, confused by the sudden company.

"What'd happened? Did Max do something?"

"That's what we're here to figure out ma'am." Hayley immediately answered.

"Well then, please come in." She said, moving out of the way of the door frame for them to walk in.

"I'll go get Mr. Douglass and see if Max is in."

* * *

><p><strong>Tai's Territorial Tirade:<strong>

I felt that this was a sufficient place to stop considering all the information I'm throwing at you so suddenly. And I needed to give you guys another update after that pitiful last chapter.

Whoo! 8 chapters done and out of the way! I might actually finish this story! :D I hope I do, especially since I have quite a few people who are enjoying it thus far.

While I was writing the scene of Hayley running into Max thinking he's Gus, I had written it 2 different ways. One being the one I obviously stuck with and the other one being where she literally runs into him while walking down a busy street. The latter of the 2 I kept out because I wanted the little bit about him telling her "Don't go to the reunion" and I felt like if she just randomly ran into him, he wouldn't say that to her. I felt like the statement had to be said during a more planned meeting on his part. But if you want to see the other scene, I'll be happy to place it in this section at the end of the next chapter. Just let me know! (Hopefully, I'll be able to find the file on my computer…)

There are a few things I want to touch on real quick. First, I can't seem to remember for the life of me whether or not Gus had blue eyes. For the sake of the story, he does. Second, I realized while writing this that there hasn't been a lot of romance going on (or at least, not enough for my liking. I feel like all I had was that one smutty airplane scene and nothing else), so I'll try and get a bit more smutty deliciousness going on for you guys (the Reunion was always meant to be a bit indulgent). Third, I've never taken psychology (or, I did in high school, but that doesn't really count), so please forgive me for my half-assed "Psychological Evaluation" bit; don't hate me for it. Lastly, a lot will be happening in the next 2 or 3 chapters, so…that's just a heads up.

Anyway, as always R&R!


	9. inFidelity

Title: …Et Encore Une Fois…

Summary: There was a sickness that was drifting over Lakewood. One that our Troop members hadn't seen since they were freshmen in high school. Seeing as they were in command when this sickness initially began, our favorite members must re-enlist and take down this virus once and for all. After all, they were getting far too old for this, far too fast…Jake X Hayley

Rating: M

Genre: Romance, Drama

Series: The Troop

Pairing: Hayley X Jake

_**Last Time…**_

"Are you Mrs…Sophie Douglass, mother of Maximiliaan Douglass?"

The older woman nodded her head, confused by the sudden company.

"What'd happened? Did Max do something?"

"That's what we're here to figure out ma'am." Hayley immediately answered.

"Well then, please come in." She said, moving out of the way of the door frame for them to walk in.

"I'll go get Mr. Douglass and see if Max is in."

**Chapter 9**

Mr. and Mrs. Douglass was an older couple, of an age that could easily be within the realm of "grandparent".

Mr. Shawn Douglass was a plump man of perhaps 70, with a loud, roaring voice and a laugh that could rival a lion's roar in volume. He wore his baldness with a type of hysterical pride that shone through his large spectacled glasses and ice blue eyes. He was the type of older man that wore suspenders over a polo shirt and flooded Levi's jeans and always had a fairly superior look in his eyes as though he had seen it all a million times.

His wife, Mrs. Sophie Douglass was a rather frail looking old woman, only a few years her husband's junior. She held the appearance of someone who was once intensely beautiful under all of the wrinkles and silver hair. She wore simple clothes and comfortable shoes and kept her hair well managed. Her eyes seemed to twinkle when she talked and Hayley hoped that she became what this woman was in 4 or 5 decades.

She and Jake liked the couple immediately. However, Max's similarity to Gus made them feel slightly guilty as he sat there, unspeaking and looking rather frightened.

"What can we do for you?" Mr. Douglass chided.

"Well, we were wondering if you knew a Susan McArthur." Said Hayley.

"Why I believe that she was Max's psychiatrist at one point or another." Mrs. Douglass answered, "We ran out of the money to pay for the visits not too long ago, but I believe that was her name. Did something happen to her?"

"She was attacked rather recently. She's in the hospital." Jake told them.

"Oh dear." Mrs. Douglass whispered.

"Damn shame..." Mr. Douglass boomed, "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be out looking for who did this?"

"That's the thing. We think we know who's to blame, but protocol says we have to check all avenues. Your visit is just one of many we've had to make."

The older couple seemed to accept Jake's statement as Max paled considerably.

"We have just one question," Hayley began, "Do any of you know a man by the name of Augustus Bratten?"

Mr. and Mrs. Douglass looked at one another, searching the other for any clue as to who that could have been. Max sat between his adoptive parents looking rather caught off guard by the question and slightly sick.

"It sounds familiar," admitted Sophie, "But we can't seem to recall anyone by that name."

Hayley lowered her gaze towards Max, her eyes softening at his bashfulness.

"What about you, Max?" She asked softly, "Do you know someone named Augustus Bratten?"

Max looked up at her with eyes so like Gus' that they actually shocked her with their familiarity. Hayley could tell by the expression on his face that he knew that the game he was playing had been figured out and resolved to answer honestly. He spoke with a voice as meek as his demeanor, yet as precise and cutting as his predecessor.

"I'll tell you, but only if we speak together alone." He muttered.

Mrs. Douglass looked shocked at the notion.

"Whatever you have to say, you can say with all of us present!"

"Sophie." Shawn Douglass said, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder, "Some things are just not for our ears."

Mrs. Douglass looked taken aback by her husband's calm statement as she looked from Shawn to Hayley to Max before deciding that she was defeated. The older couple got up, motioning for Jake to follow them out of the room. Jake looked to Hayley, not quite sure if he should leave her alone.

"It's fine." She whispered, "I'll be fine."

Hayley watched the trio leave before turning her attention back to Max. They sat patiently, each watching the other before Max decided to break the silence.

"That was Jake, right? Augustus told me that you and he would come eventually." He mumbled demurely, "He told me that you guys would always come where he was involved."

"You know that Gus can't talk to you, right? He's no longer with us and hasn't been in over a decade." Hayley responded.

"Augustus." Max corrected, "And of course he can talk to me. That's how I was able to find the Djinni and learn how to control it and know who you guys are. I could never guess those things in my wildest dreams."

"Max, you don't have to do this." Said Hayley, trying to reason with the younger boy, "You can still give me the Djinni and walk away from this."

"No I can't." He stated matter of factly, "Not until I get my brother back."

"So Gus was your brother."

"Augustus." He corrected again, "And yes, he is my brother. When my parents had Augustus, they weren't ready. And then they had me over a decade later and no longer had the patience for a child. So, they got rid of me and I ended up here. Don't get me wrong, Sophie and Shawn are great parents, but that didn't change the fact that I didn't really have the type of family I needed; all of their siblings are old and decrepit and their children old enough to be my parents.

"And then Augustus came to me in a dream. Told me that we were siblings and that he was trapped somewhere and that I could help. I didn't believe it at first, but he told me all about monsters and about the Djinn and their unique ability to transfer energy from one being to another and where I could find one. And when I found it exactly how he told me, I knew it had to be true. He told me that if I was able to round up enough people that the Djinni would be able to use all that energy to bring him back. And then the reunion came up and it was the perfect opportunity.

"The Djinni had to feed until then, so I found it only befitting to feed him with the energy of the people who landed my brother in that dimension—"

"Then why didn't you have it hunt Jake, Felix, or myself down?" Hayley interrupted.

"Because you guys didn't land him there. It was his obsession to be accepted and stronger than everyone else that drove him there." Max said rather rationally, "He would have never become so obsessed if not for the teasing and ridicule. And there's also the fact that Augustus loves you."

Hayley stilled at the statement as Max elaborated.

"You were the first person to ever truly accept him for who he was and he loves you for that. That's why I warned you about the Reunion; he'd never forgive me if you got hurt."

"What about Susan McArthur, what'd she ever do to Gus?"

"Augustus." Max said. "And Miss McArthur and I were one meeting away from her telling my parents to ship me off to the Mental Ward of the closest hospital. I couldn't let that happen when I was so close, even if the possibility of it happening was financially impossible. She was just…a casualty of war, I suppose."

Hayley was surprised by the younger man's statement. She never believed that someone so meek would have the capacity for callousness that he had.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Hayley asked seriously, "Do you not believe that we'll stop you now that we know what you're doing?"

"Well, there is nothing much that you can do at this point to stop me, Miss Steele." Max atoned, "The Djinni is nearly impossible to stop if you aren't the person controlling it. And even then, there are only two ways to defeat it; either by offering it freedom or through self sacrifice. Since you cannot offer one and won't offer the other, you're stuck."

Hayley stood up from her seat on the couch, looking Max straight in the eye.

"Don't be so sure of yourself, Max." She whispered, "Gus was once very sure of himself—"

"Augustus."

Hayley continued as though she hadn't heard him.

"—and we both know how that ended. Let's just hope that doesn't become your fate as well."

* * *

><p>Felix and Jake looked at Hayley in slight confusion as she tried to explain the day's events.<p>

"Okay, explain that one more time."

Hayley sighed, leaning against an unoccupied desk in Felix's empty Physics classroom. All she wanted was to get back to her hotel room, get out of her clothes and take a nice relaxing bath.

"Basically, he told me that Gus somehow has been communicating between worlds and told him of a way to bring him back with a Djinni using energy transference. He plans on using all of the energy of the people at the reunion to somehow bring Gus back from the monster dimension."

"But what about Susan McArthur?" Jake asked.

"A 'casualty of war'." Hayley scuffed, "At least, that's what he told me. She was a potential threat and he saw it fit to eliminate her."

"Okay," Felix said clasping his hands together for emphasis, "We now know who's doing this, why, how, and—roughly—when. The only question is why would this kid be willing to risk his own life for a sibling he doesn't even know? He was a baby when Gus disappeared and was adopted on top of that. Why do all this now?"

Hayley thought about it for a moment, before the answer became obvious.

"Because he's lonely." She said as though it was the most apparent answer in the world.

Jake and Felix looked at Hayley as though she had sprouted an extra head.

"Of course…He'd said that the Douglass' were kind but couldn't offer the childhood he needed. He was raised by old people as an only child. He was probably well loved, but didn't really go places or know anyone his own age. Hearing that he had a sibling was probably the best news he'd gotten in his life. He probably wants to believe it so badly…"

Hayley felt herself losing her train of thought rather rapidly the more she thought of the loneliness that Max had to endure growing up.

She could only imagine how he felt, almost hear his soft words as a child telling people that his parents had left him to be raised by his grandmother and grandfather through no fault of their own. She could imagine him being confused, listening to the great stories that his friends told of what they had done with their families only to go home to a couple that didn't particularly enjoy noise or really leave the house for much. She could almost feel the consuming seclusion of that kind of life and suddenly felt so immensely heartbroken for him that she couldn't contain it.

Hayley hadn't realized she was crying until Jake was right before her, his hands cupping her cheeks as he wiped away her tears and asked her what was the matter.

"Nothing," she told him, "Just really tired."

Everything seemed to happen so quickly, like the montage of a movie; one moment she's standing in Felix's empty expanse of a classroom crying like a child, the next Jake is helping her out of the car and to her hotel room. Once they were standing just outside her door, Jake decides to kneel down ever so slightly to be at eyelevel with Hayley, his eyes so concerned that it tore her insides apart even more.

"Are you okay? You haven't stopped crying since we left Felix's classroom. What's got you so upset?"

"It's just…" Hayley felt herself choking on her words as they made their way out and into the open.

"It's just…I can't…imagine…being so…utterly alone…"

She felt so entirely childish standing there weeping over something so trivial, yet Jake's eyes softened despite it, his auburn orbs screaming in unknown agony as he uttered a single sentence.

"That's because you've never been utterly alone before."

Hayley felt her sorrow turn into a stinging realization at his words.

There he was again, saying things that were ruthlessly breaking her heart into little pieces for him to play with and do with as he pleased. And yet he was comforting her and making her feel safe and secure in a way that only he could and it was destroying her inside to think that she had let this go for someone who couldn't even make her feel half as good as he felt to her now. He was always there, embracing her when she needed it most and being so tangible, so rigid under her fingertips and believing in her when she was at her absolute lowest. How could he be so constant in his love when she was so very unpredictable?

Honestly, she'd never meant to leave him all alone and heartbroken because of her own weaknesses and insecurities. She could only imagine the pain he must have endured, the thoughts that had gone through his head. He must have thought terribly about her and about how she had treated him, yet he was still there holding her and loving her with every fiber of his being. Hayley was overcome by the strong urge to cry once again, but she couldn't when she was so close to the warmth that was Jake and his strong gaze and soft words.

She looked up into Jake's russet orbs, her sobs lost in her throat, her tears dried up riverbeds running along her face. He looked stunning to her now, more tempting than she had ever seen him with the light landing on his face in all the right places. He looked like what she imagined an angel to look like in the bright lights of heaven and suddenly she was searching his face for some imperfection, some defect in him that she could use as an excuse to walk into her hotel room alone and unapologetic. But there were none.

Hayley's hands continued their trek, lightly searching for purchase along the planes of Jake's chin and lips, experimenting with the feeling under her fingers. After such a long time away from the taut skin, she found herself craving it in the worst way possible much like she had during their airplane excursion. She could feel what appeared to be light stubble growing along his jaw line and relished in the feeling of the tiny hairs. Jake's large hands engulfed her own, leading them to his lips where he kissed each digit individually with great care.

Hayley was going mad with the electricity sparking from his lips and yearned to taste him on her tongue once again, regardless of the consequences. She was never particularly skilled with these wars of wills between them.

Their lips collided with a practiced efficiency, generating their own heat and making Hayley break back down into a weeping fit once more. It started out as a soft, testing peck that slowly formed into a feverish frenzy for control. Hayley's hands roamed Jake's body, one hand tangling in the small curls at the nap of his neck while the other wiggled its way between the buttons of his shirt to rest on the marble like skin of his chest. Jake pulled her flush against him, his erection pressing against the clothed flesh of her sensitive bikini line, her mewl of encouragement landing on his tongue. A thought flashed across her mind to invite him in and delve into the pleasure of all the wicked things they could perform together, but there was still that voice in the back of her head that nagged her and warned her of what she was doing. Jake's hand skimmed across the thin layer of skin over her jugular, making her heart race in a way that only he could and that nagging, annoying voice was suddenly more of dull whisper in her ears.

She wasn't sure when she had opened the door to her room or when she had pushed Jake onto her bed to sit. But Hayley was aware of the fact that she was rather anxiously undoing Jake's tie and unbuttoning his shirt, easing it off with a skillful confidence she hadn't felt in years. She hiked up her skirt, all caution thrown to the wind as she straddled his eagerly awaiting waist. Jake made short work of the top buttons of Hayley's blouse before twisting on the bed, putting control of the situation back into his own hands. Hayley's breath came out in short ragged bursts as he kissed and licked the very sensitive flesh above her breasts. Her moans were coming out in a feverish frenzy as his hands moved up along the hem of her skirt, moving it out of the way just enough to gain access to the soft pale flesh of her upper thigh.

Hayley felt a bizarre need to compose herself, to find some rationality in all of this primal behavior and convince him that they couldn't do what she was sure they were about to do, but the way that Jake's fingers and lips kept waltzing about her most sensitive areas like a skilled choreographer…It was hard for her to center herself and breath. Hayley arched, her body entranced by the way that Jake played with it. She gripped his shoulders hard as he pumped 2 strong fingers into her warm and waiting core, ravishing her fast and hard before claiming her mouth as she all but screamed out her first release. He pulled those fingers out as he kissed her long and firm, before taking one digit into his mouth and tasting her. Hayley thought it had to be one of the sexiest things she had ever seen and was now burning to have him inside her after a decade of being without him. Jake seemed to read her mind as he sat up to unzip his pants. Hayley simultaneously stood, wiggling out of her now rather loose panties before going back to straddling Jake.

Hayley took her time as she descended upon his member, grasping his neck and shoulders for support as she threw her head back letting out a low growl of approval. Jake buried his head in the crook of her neck, his warm breath tickling her as they began to rock to a slow rhythm. She could feel her pleasure mounting and began to ride him faster and faster, ripping open her shirt to give him access to her breasts, of which Jake was happy to oblige.

Hayley was getting closer and closer to that pleasurable abyss, Jake grunting along with her as they reached it faster, faster…

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Hayley?"

Their momentum immediately stilled, that building pressure in the pit of their stomachs sitting almost painfully in the now deafening silence of the room.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Hayley?"

Hayley knew from the questioning tone that it was Amy Anderson at her door, one of her many former cheerleading friends and former comrade student counsel member. In the heat of their passion she had forgotten that she was supposed to help with the set up for some of the activities of the reunion, giving Amy the task of getting her when they were suppose to head to the meeting.

"Yeah?" Hayley choked out, very much aware of the fact that Jake was still deep inside of her and unwilling to face the embarrassment and ignominy that would follow if Amy was to find out.

Jake shifted their position once again to lying on the bed, Hayley under him and fully aware of the situation, but unwilling to pass up the opportunity. He broke out into a wicked grin as he wrapped one of Hayley's legs around him, her eyes widening at the implications.

_Don't you dare!_ Hayley whispered inaudibly, but Jake was already in motion, picking up the pace they had lost.

Hayley threw her head into the pillow beneath her, biting her lip so Amy wouldn't hear.

"Well, we had a meeting with Brett, Chris, and all the other counsel members today, to get stuff in order, remember?"

Hayley moaned deep in her throat as she attempted to answer as evenly as possible.

"Oh…of course!" Hayley breathed out just loud enough for Amy to hear as Jake's thrusts became more and more frequent.

"Well, we're already late, so…are you ready?"

"Oh god…" Hayley breathed, "Give me a…minute! I've got… (deep breath) to change."

Hayley's legs clinched around Jake's waist as he pumped in and out at a rapid pace, her heels pushing at his pants, causing more of that delicious friction between her legs that was driving her wild.

"Hayley, are you okay?" Amy asked, "You sound a bit…out of breath."

"I'm just…exercising!" Hayley abruptly shouted as Jake hit that sweet spot over and over.

She was so close, so very close, and so was he. Just one more thrust, one more deep push…

"AH! JA…ESUS!" Hayley shrieked, trying to cover up her near slip as her body trembled against Jake's.

He thrust once, twice, trice more before he lowered his head into the crook of her neck and stilled within her, his cum releasing hot and slick inside her. It was in that moment that Hayley realized the severity of what she had just done, but when her eyes landed on Jake's flushed face and heaving chest she suddenly understood that she honestly didn't care. She wanted to relish in this…whatever it was for as long as she could. She felt herself shiver at the loss of heat as Jake pulled out, getting a little bit of their mixed fluids on his now wrinkled, sweat covered suit pants.

Amy began to barrage the door with her concern at the lack of an explanation for Hayley's seemingly sudden outburst.

"Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself? Hayley!"

"I'm fantastic." Hayley said breathlessly, "I just finished…I'll be there…after I shower."

Amy seemed unsure of that choice, but accepted it before bidding Hayley goodbye and going on her way.

Hayley and Jake looked hard at one another before Jake broke the silence.

"Sorry…"

"Don't be."

Silence.

"I don't want to sound…cheesy, but please tell me that wasn't the last time..."

"It wasn't. But as soon as Monday comes around and we have to leave, whatever this is has to end."

Jake nodded before placing a lingering kiss on Hayley's lips that rocked her to her toes and seemed to tie her stomach into knots and she suddenly wanted him all over again. She wasn't sure if she'd let this die on Monday.

* * *

><p><strong>Tai's Territorial Tirade:<strong>

And another nice smutty one for you.

I know I already said this, but I realize that I rated this M with the intent of it being loaded with lemons and that type of thing. But I got so enthralled in the plot itself, that I sort of put the smut on the back burner. So, I decided to try and shift more of the attention to the sexual relationship and romantic tension between Hayley and Jake while also moving the plot itself along.

Oh, BTW, sorry for the super late update. My sister hasn't had her baby yet, although she did go to the doctor yesterday and they said that she was 1.5 cm dilated, so that baby will be here any day now. I still can't get use to the fact that my sister is married and with soon-to-be 2 kids. I mean, I'm not even 20 yet so it all kind of just blows my mind. But, I digress. The update took so long because I had to work today. I was suppose to be off today and at Kroger tomorrow and at the football stadium Monday, but I got called to work a baseball game tomorrow, so I went into Kroger today so I could also work tomorrow and still work Monday…so yeah…if that makes any sense…:/So, my bad.

I actually originally wrote this entire chapter at, like, 2 in the morning and was editing it until 5 in the morning. So, there's bound to be a lot of errors. :/ And, to top it off, I didn't care too much for this chapter in general. I loved writing the sex scene, but then I went back to edit it and just hated reading it; it felt like one big, cliché of a train wreck. But I just couldn't rewrite it; I don't have to heart to do it. So, hopefully you guys like it and don't feel too let down by the lack of originality.

And, I also realize that I didn't have Jake rushing to put a condom on. I did that on purpose; the scene was supposed to feel spontaneous and passionate and I felt like Jake reaching for a rubber destroyed that. I don't know, maybe I'm just a great big weirdo (please forgive the lack of a better word).

Also, I hope I didn't confuse you with the whole Maximiliaan plotline. It seems a bit convoluted and I think it would have been better if I had just made the guy Gus, but there was a little voice in the back of my head saying "Plots are rarely as simple as that. It leaves no room for surprises." So, I went with the confusing back story that still doesn't explain everything the way I wanted it to…Sorry XD

As always, R&R!


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